Rise Son of Raven
by LoveAndWar1337
Summary: Not all kings are born. Some are forged in fire. Naruto x Harem
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Raven Branwen has been called many things in her life, a decent and well-balanced mother was not one of them. That wasn't to say she hadn't tried being a good mother, she'd even contemplated leaving behind her tribe just to raise her daughter, but in the end something forced her hand. It wasn't that Raven didn't love her family, even if her feelings for her former husband had diminished somewhat over time, but hard choices had to be made. One such choice came in the form of her daughter's twin brother, who has inherited his father's bright yellow hair and her sharp red eyes. They named him Naruto, after the main character of a book Raven had picked up while at Beacon Academy, and in the beginning everything was borderline perfect. It all began the day the Raven accidentally activated her son's aura, which was something of a tradition within her tribe, and never before had she regretted her actions so much. Taiyang and Yang hadn't been home when it happened, they'd actually been out of town with Raven's brother Qrow, and everyone was still alive because of that simple fact.

Not only had Naruto aura activated, but so had his semblance, and it was as destructive as it was mighty. Despite being only about a year old, Naruto semblance had completely destroyed their house and burned some of the surrounding area to a crisp. It was only thanks to Raven's quick reflexes she was able to form a portal and escape before the blast took her along with everything else. She naturally contacted Taiyang a moment later, after teleporting back to the house and making sure that her only son was all right, and that's when everything really did change. Taiyang's first suggestion was to call Ozpin, something Raven was already very much against but agreed to nonetheless. Ozpin naturally came by to look at the boy, explaining to the two worried parents that the activation of Naruto's semblance at such a young age had led to unleash something he'd never seen before.

Taiyang remained optimistic, reassuring Raven that they would do everything in their power to make sure Naruto didn't hurt either himself or anyone else unintentionally, but the raven-haired beauty didn't hear any of it. She didn't hear any of it because all she saw, when she looked at Ozpin, was a man planning on how to use her son in a war he had no knowledge of. So it was that night, without ever saying a word to anyone, that Raven took up her old arms and armor and vanished with her son. It was only a week later that Raven appeared once again, this time to her best friend, named Summer, and told her old team leader to take care of her now ex-husband. Summer never claimed to understand what was going on with Raven, she didn't need to, because true friends never need to ask why.

So, as Raven took her little boy Naruto to the only place she could raise him properly and in relative safety, she took a vow that no one would ever use him like Ozpin had been planning to. She would train him to be powerful, even more than Raven herself was, so that no one would be able to control him. Then, when the time was right, she would tell her son about the family she had taken him away from. She would tell him how she took him away in the dead of night because his own power put them in danger. Then, after everything was laid bare at his feet, she would ask for his forgiveness. However, until that day comes, Raven would train him.

(Naruto Age: 4)

Living amongst the Branwen tribe was not for the faint of heart, they were a group of people that valued strength above almost all other attributes, to the point that even their children were expected to be above the norm. So it shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone when Raven decided to take her four-year-old son out on a hunt, namely for Grimm, as a way to show him what he will be expected to face when he becomes of age. So now here Naruto stood, safely up on the hillside, and watched his mother easily rip through the small army of monsters with ease.

"Yeah, way to go mom, show those monsters who they're messing with!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist into the air with a wide smile on his face, and already imagine what he'll be able to do once he gets big and strong like his mother.

"I hope you're paying close attention, little Branwen," came a voice from behind Naruto, "There's a reason our tribe follows your mother, her strength is unmatched by all of us here and her dedication is unwavering."

"You got it, old man Seijuro, and when I grow up I'm going to be even stronger than mom! And then, once I'm leader, the whole world's going to know the name Branwen! We're going to be the strongest tribe ever!" Naruto cheered, getting a snort of amusement from the man standing behind him, as Raven finished off the Grimm below with a sudden surge of speed.

"Kid, if you even turn out as half as strong as your mom, you'll be strong enough to have earned my respect. Now come on, let's go down there so she can continue your lesson," Seijuro grunted, motioning Naruto to go forward while pushing on his back just for a little nudge.

Naruto just laughed at his Guardian, a man tasked by Raven herself to watch over her son whenever she couldn't be around, ever so eager to pester his mother about finally beginning his training. Raven often wondered if this was how Yang was with Taiyang, but those thoughts often led to quick bouts of depression and longing, follow quickly by a large amount of alcohol. It was because of both of their distracted minds that neither son nor mother notice one last Grimm having survived the slaughter, that is until it suddenly lunged at the unaware Naruto. Raven's eyes slowly widened horror as she witnessed such a large beasts come down on her small and fragile son. Never before had she felt such helplessness, knowing that she herself was too far away to prevent any harm from coming to Naruto, but that didn't stop the raven-haired warrior from trying.

Even Seijuro, who himself was only a few yards away, could only watch on in horror as the large abomination came down on his charge. Both members of the Branwen tribe reached the Grimm at the same time, there's swords already unsheathed and poised to strike, and they didn't hesitate for a moment. Yet it was Naruto's cries of pain that brought Raven's World crashing down around her, for she had been too slow and the damage was already done. As if some dark and twisted curtain was suddenly lifted from around her son, Raven was greeted by the sight of Naruto holding his face in pain as blood ran down his cheeks.

"Naruto," Raven began as she slowly knelt down next to her crying son, sword dropped on the ground without a second thought, " Naruto, move your hands so I can see what happened."

Most children wouldn't have been able to listen, most children would be in too much pain to even think about revealing it to the world, but Naruto was the son of Raven Branwen! So, taking a deep breath and holding back as much of his tears as he could, Naruto slowly pulled his hands away from his face to reveal the damage. Three long and jagged scars now ran down the side of each of Naruto's cheeks, not deep enough to pierce down into his mouth, but not shallow enough to prevent any permanent scarring.

"It, it hurts, it hurts so much," Naruto choked back a sob, already tasting the iron of his own blood that had dripped into his mouth as he spoke.

"I know, I know it hurts, I'm so sorry Naruto. I let my guard down and you got hurt because of it," Raven whispered as she pulled her sobbing child into her arms, "Mommy's here now, it's all going to be alright."

"Raven," Seijuro began, only to fall silent beneath Raven's harsh glare.

"Never again," Raven growled out as softly as she could, getting a solemn nod from Seijuro.

"Come, we should get him back to the tribe and get those injuries looked at."

Raven nodded and slowly got back to her feet, sheathing her sword before taking a young and still injured Naruto in her arms, being careful not to rest his face against her armor and aggravate his injuries even more. Many would believe that Naruto would be out of commission for a few weeks as his face healed, but it was only one week after the incident that Naruto walked up to his mother and asked to finally begin his training. Raven could say, with all the pride of a mother, that her son would be strong and ready to face the world that awaits him outside their tribe.

Little did anyone know that, just beneath the bandages Naruto now wore on his cheeks, a vile red energy seeped from the cuts and began to slowly burn the flesh until the bleeding stopped. That attack from the Grimm had woken up something deep inside Naruto, and no one would ever be prepared for what was going to happen in a few years.

(Naruto Age: 9)

Naruto's training had started off very simple in those beginning years, mainly consisting of daily exercises and training his mind to be as sharp as the blade he would someday wield. Raven knew full well what damages can be done to the body if extensive training was started too young, so she made sure to teach her son's mind while preparing his body for the intensity it would face in his later years. Now, right as Naruto was on the verge of turning ten years old, it was decided by the tribe that Naruto would finally undergo the combat portion of his education. Raven herself had undergone something similar around Naruto's age, which showed to everyone just how much promise he had, but that didn't mean it would be easy.

Tradition stated that each member of the tribe was to teach Naruto at least one thing about combat, whether it be how to wield a weapon or how to lead an enemy into an ambush. Everyone agreed that Raven should be the one to teach her son the way at the sword, even Seijuro had relented on that part, and soon enough Naruto new more ways to kill a man than any other nine year old on the face of Remnant. Unfortunately for Naruto, his mother would soon prove to be the hardest teacher he'd ever had.

Yet, in the end, Naruto had been gifted with a pair of daggers from his mother, for him to use until he was strong enough and big enough to wield a proper weapon. It was also around this time the Naruto began asking where his father was and who he was, all questions that Raven didn't want to answer.

"My past is a difficult thing for me to talk about, Naruto."

"But can't you at least tell me if he's alive, if he even knows that I'm his son, if he even cares that I exist?" Naruto asked one late night as they sat in Raven's tent, eating dinner.

Raven took a deep breath and closed her eyes, thinking about every possible scenario that could take place after this night and how her answer would further impact her relationship with her own son. Telling him the truth could possibly be the right thing in the short and long-term, but that also ran the risk of Naruto running away one day and search for family he had no idea of. If for no other reason, Naruto would go in search of a twin sister that he had never met before and had never even thought of. Naruto would hate her for it, when he eventually found out the truth, but she could live with that if it meant keeping him safe until he was ready. For in this deep and dark world, filled with monsters and other nightmarish creatures, Naruto is the only ray of sunshine she still had.

"Alright, I'll tell you about your father and why he's not with us now. I used to be something known as a Huntress, someone who goes out into the wilds and hunts down Grimm, and it was during this time that I met your father. You look a lot like him, same hair color and everything, and the both of you have this shining personality that can just light up a room. I was out on a mission, it lasted maybe only a week, but when I got home I found that's Grimm had attacked only a few hours before my arrival," Raven took a deep breath as if the center herself once more, "And when I rushed inside the house I found your father dead, slumped up against the door to your room. He fought off in entire horde of Grimm just to keep you safe until I could get home."

Naruto's lowered his gaze to the ground, as if now in deep thought, before is red eyes suddenly shot up to meet Raven's, "What was his name?"

"Taiyang, his name was Taiyang."

"Then I'm proud to be the son of Taiyang and will do everything in my power to live up to both of your names!"

Raven just smiled down at her son, a smile to hide the pain of lying to him, "I know you will, because you are my son."

(Naruto Age: 14)

Up till this point Raven had kept her word, she trained her son to be strong, loyal, and skilled enough to survive the outside world. Yet it was at this point that Raven's motherly instincts and duty to train her son finally conflicted with one another. Every member of the Branwen tribe was expected to make at least one kill before their 15th birthday, showing the rest of the tribe that they were ready to become one of them and had the will to put the tribe as a whole before their own desires or personal codes. As a mother, Raven did not want to have to force her son to go through with this, but as a member of the Branwen tribe she had no choice in the matter. Raven knew her son was skilled enough to do it, he had nearly surpassed her strength at that age, but did he have the resolve to take a life that wasn't Grimm?

"You know you don't have to leave yet," Raven stated as she helped adjust Naruto's new armor, which was a strange mesh between cloth and metal plating over vital areas.

"Yes I do, because the sooner this is over then the sooner I can come back here and help you with the tribe as an equal," Naruto firmly stated, his voice having growing a bit deeper since beginning puberty and now standing just half a head shorter than Raven herself.

"When you get back, if you need to, I'll be here to talk."

Naruto just gave his mother a smile, one that reminded her so much of Taiyang, "I'll be strong, I'll make you proud to call me your son by becoming a man of the tribe."

Raven watch has Naruto turned around and picked up his two daggers, the very same ones she had given him all those years ago, and sheath them into different holsters on each side of his waist. Then, with a kind of gentleness she only ever seen herself use, she watch Naruto pick up a sword he had crafted all by himself. The sword had a curved blade, much like Raven's own, with hidden notches inside the blade that's skillfully covered what it was really capable of. Naruto then took out a mask, a Grimm mask, and placed it over his face to hide his identity; no one must be allowed to even so much as give out a description of him.

"Naruto."

"Yes, mother?"

"... Good hunting."

And with those last words said between mother and son, Naruto exited Ravens tent and soon enough would exit the area the tribe had settled in for the moment. The nearest town was said to be a very corrupt place, or at least that's what their scouts had told them, and that's why Raven had chosen this place to be her son's proving ground. She knew he wasn't ready to take an innocent life yet, so maybe taking out some drunken murderer would be a good first step in preparing him for what he might have to do some day for the tribe.

(Inside The Town)

By the time Naruto had reached in the town the sun was already setting well behind him, it's heavenly rays painting the sky in reds and purples, and was a perfect time for him to infiltrate the area without being seen by anyone. Now the trial for his tribe never specified what kind of person he must kill, only that it must be done before his 15th birthday, so at least I gave Naruto some time to figure out which one of these people would be his target. At first Naruto thought this would be a problem, but a part of that changed when he actually began observing the townsfolk. This wasn't a normal town, it was filled with evil given human form, with acts of such depravity taking place that it would forever be engraved into Naruto's very mind. Men and women alike were being forced against their will in the very streets, a pile of corpses had formed in the very center of the town, and those unfortunate enough to still be alive after all of this we're being sold in a public slave auction.

"Why did she choose this place?" Naruto asked himself from his hiding spot atop one of the many roofs, struggling to hold his newfound rage at bay.

Naruto simply shook his head, it didn't matter why he was here, the fact of the matter was that he is here now and he can do something about this evil. Sure his tribe were Bandits, that was never kept secret from him, but this is a kind of cruelty not even Grimm are capable of! So Naruto drew the twin daggers from his sides, gripping one in each hand tightly, and jump down into an alleyway below where a woman was being assaulted. By the time the sun rose the next morning, the only thing left of that town was a burning pile of wreckage, and Raven watched from a distance as her son walked back home covered in the blood of his enemies.

(Naruto Age: 16)

"Sorry mom," Naruto whispered as he stood over Raven's sleeping form, a pack flung over his left shoulder and all his gear on, "But something's calling to me out there and I just can't ignore it anymore.

Naruto leaned down and kissed her on the forehead before walking out of her tent and simply vanishing into the night. Something out there was calling to him, every night for the last two years, and it was about damn time he figured out what it was.

"_**Come to me,**_"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It had been close to two months since Naruto left the Branwen camp, having left in the middle of the night without warning or even so much as an explanation. At first Naruto had expected his mother to come looking for him, since she could open up a portal to anyone she had a close bond with, but to his surprise she never did. Maybe she realized the same thing Naruto did, that he could only ever learned so much held up in camp and that he needed to experience the world to truly understand what it was like to live.

So that's what Naruto was doing, exploring the different countries and learning everything he could about the outside world. He of course needed money, that's the only way people survive in these times, so he took up a job doing the one thing he knew he was very very good at. Being a mercenary was a lot like it was being a bandit, except being a mercenary allows you to legally kill people while being a bandit was somehow seen as something bad. Still, in the last month or so, Naruto has been able to rack up quite a bit of money and was living quite the simple life on the open road.

The country of Vacuo was where Naruto found himself, having hitched a ride on a ship and managed to slip away before anyone notices he was even there. Naruto had only spent a few weeks in one of its coastal cities and in that time he managed to find himself some work protecting an expedition going out into the deserts. Now wasn't raiders or bandits that these people were worried about, if that was the case and they wouldn't have hired someone experienced in killing monsters, it was because the area of the desert they were going to was notorious for very large Grimm. So, after packing up on some much needed supplies and getting some close properly made for the desert, Naruto met the expedition at the gates of the city.

"I'm glad you made it, my new mercenary friend!" exclaimed a rather burly looking man who had a long bushy beard, dull green eyes, and a very over enthusiastic smile.

"Well, Ivan, you are paying me quite a bit of money to protect you guys on your expedition, so of course I would make it," Naruto replied, resting his left hand lazily on the hilt of his sword and given the large man his own smile.

"Ha ha ha, that's what I like about you, a young man willing to do a hard days work for a bit of money! Why can't the youth of nowadays be more like you, Mr. mercenary?!" Ivan laughed loudly, throwing his large arm around Naruto's shoulder and pulling him in close for a Bro hug.

"Maybe it's because I was raised by a group of bandits and not in a comfy city?" Naruto asked dryly, having made no secret his origins and what he had done before becoming a mercenary, and thankfully his tribe never operated in this country before.

"Yes, yes, but enough of the useless chit chat! We have treasure to find and, upon our return, a wonderful adventure to tell all the little children!" Ivan loudly declared, dragging Naruto with him as he mounted up on one of the transportation vehicles.

Naruto should have known this expedition was a bad idea, he met Ivan in a bar after all and the man was half drunk almost all the time, but there was still something about going out into the unknown that made Naruto feel just a bit more live. Living back in Vale had been nice and all, all the large forests were perfect for running around in, but there was still so much of the world left to see and Naruto wanted to see it all.

"All right everyone were about to move out! Remember, if you see any sign of big bad monsters, stay back and let our mercenary friend take care of them, after all that's what I'm paying him for! Now let's get a move on!" Ivan shouted as the engine of their transport roared to life, along with the other ones behind them, and they took off into the wide open desert.

It was only about an hour into their trip when Ivan decided to strike up a conversation again, having already drunk half of his flask of alcohol and now needed something else to distract him from the searing heat. So, with nothing else to do, he started to regale Naruto with tales that this desert held. Now Naruto, being the professional that he is, kept most of his attention looking out for possible threats upon the horizon. It was only when Ivan mentioned the Ghost of the Desert that Naruto suddenly found himself paying attention.

"It all began about 10 years ago, this traveling huntress from Vale came Into the port one day and wanted to be taken out into the desert. She was apparently on some kind of search for a mysterious artifact lost in the desert and needed someone to show her the way to a very specific spot. My friend, a woman named Bianka, agreed to take her out into the desert for no small amount of money. It was four weeks later, a whole three weeks past their return date, that Bianka finally made it back to the city, half dead. She told me that two days into their trip they had been attacked by Grimm, but that wasn't the worst part. No, this huntress from Vale had easily dispatched the Grimm with her spear, there was the fact that there was someone working alongside the Grimm." Ivan began, looking out the window with an almost haunted look in his eyes.

"Someone working alongside the Grimm?" Naruto asked, knowing for a fact that Grimm creatures attacked anything and everything that wasn't also Grimm, "What did your friend say happen next?"

"She said that the Huntress told her to run, and run she did. With their transport trashed, along with all their food and water, Bianka herself barely made it back to the city without dying. She then spent the next three weeks recovering and has since refused to ever leave the city again."

"Wait a minute, you said this was a story about a Ghost of the Desert, so how does this mysterious ghost fit into the story?" Naruto asked, his red eyes glancing out the window at the large dunes of sand.

"Because it said that that Huntress's ghost still haunts this desert. Many people to travel through this deserts have claimed to see a white hooded woman, wielding a spear, traveling through these dunes in the dead of night. Her soul constantly searching for that artifact she had been looking for and that she will never be able to rest until she finds it," Ivan finished with a spooky voice, a slight grin on his face, while in the end Naruto just rolled his eyes.

"That's a pretty crappy ghost story," Naruto commented dryly, although some part of him did wonder if there was any actual truth to it.

"That's because it's not a ghost story, at least not in the typical sense, and even I've seen this so-called ghost once or twice. Who knows, maybe on this trip you'll end up seeing her to."

"The only thing were likely to run into, this far out, is the Grimm and maybe a few bandits. Besides, I don't imagine that there is any way for someone to survive out here for ten years," and with that said, their short conversation ended and silence once again filled the vehicle.

(Night)

With the sun finally setting and the broken moon having risen above the horizon, which still made Naruto curious as to what could have possibly done so much damage to a celestial body that large, the expedition came to a halt and set up camp. A large bonfire was made from the dried word they brought with them, which was a bit old-fashioned given today's technology, and several tents were set up around the fire. While this was going on several men were ordered to put sensor beacons around the camp, which would set off an alarm if anything cross through them. Naruto himself had helped in all of these different projects, although mostly in helping setting up the sensor beacons, and proved to be just more than a hired sword that only cared about doing his job.

In fact, Naruto could now be found sitting around the large bonfire with his sword in one hand and a whetstone and the other. All around him the other members of the expedition were laughing and drinking, celebrating their first night in the great desert expanse, and this reminded Naruto quite a bit of his old family. The Branwen tribe may have been just a bunch of cutthroats and thieves, even though they were thieves with a sense of Darwinism, but man did they know how to throw a celebration party.

It was at one of these parties that Naruto saw his mom actually laugh for the first time, although she had been drinking quite a bit that night and Naruto did have to help her back to her tent. The fact still remains that these people, in this moment, reminded Naruto of home.

"Hey, you should drink something," a soft voice said, drawing Naruto's focus away from sharpening his blade.

Naruto is no stranger to beautiful women, Raven had made sure to take care of that early on so that he wouldn't get distracted by one in a fight, but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate them in his downtime. Take, for instance, the girl offering him a drink. She was no doubt a more mature woman, even though she was slightly shorter than Naruto, but time had been very kind to her. The way her dark brown hair frame the sides of her face, not to mention how innocent her blue eyes were, gave her a sense of gentleness that Naruto had hardly ever seen. It also helped that she had a great figure, even when it was buried beneath heavy robes.

Naruto gave her his best smile, which was apparently pretty good if the blood rushing to her cheeks was anything to go by, "Thanks, would you like to join me?"

"I'd love to," she said, taking a seat next to him and folding her hands neatly in her lap, "I'm Celine by the way."

"I'm Naruto, the mercenary hired..." Naruto began but was cut off by Celine.

"To protect us on our long trip into the desert. I know who you are, Ivan made sure to let us know who to tell if we saw any Grimm."

"Well, since you already know what I do for a living, what do you do?" Naruto inquired, taking a sip of the drink offered to him and noting the slight burn of alcohol as it went down his throat.

"I study ancient civilizations," that certainly wasn't what Naruto was expecting her to say, "It's why I decided to join up with this expedition to begin with. The treasurer were looking for supposedly belongs to the first-ever civilization of humankind. It said that they existed long before the moon was shattered and even some other structures still survive to this day."

"Really, I've never heard of the civilization before, is it a recent discovery?" Naruto asked, if for no other reason than it sounded interesting.

Celine looked away a bit shyly, almost embarrassed, before mumbling her response, "I guess you could say I'm kind of the leading expert, since I'm the only one that really believes in them. Every other professor I went to said that what I was thinking was crazy, that there was no proof of this first civilization."

"But you believe they're real, and if you search hard enough then perhaps you will find the proof you need. Just don't let professors, especially those ones that think they know everything about everything, hold you back from you dream," Naruto said taking another drink, "Besides, I think it would be pretty cool if you found something all the way out here in the desert."

"You know, for a mercenary hired to protect us from the Grimm, you're a pretty decent guy," Celine turned back to Naruto, the pleasant smile on her face, which just made Naruto chuckle a bit.

"Oh, so you've met many mercenaries before?" Naruto challenged, raising his eyebrow just a bit.

"Nope," Celine happily admitted, this time taking a sip from her own cup, "But as far as first times go, you aren't so bad."

Naruto nearly choked on his drink when he saw the flirtatious look she was shooting him, but quickly correct himself to preserve some semblance of manliness. He may have been used to the female body, being able to ignore his hormones whenever he wanted, but that still didn't mean the temptation wasn't there.

"Well, if you do find something out here and become all rich and famous, just be sure to throw in the name of the mercenary that protected you."

Celine let out a light laugh, "Don't worry, I'll make sure to put your name on the front page."

The night continued on just about as peacefully as one would expect, with Naruto spending most of the night talking to Celine and consuming his fair amount of alcohol. It wasn't usually a good idea for Naruto to get drunk while he was supposed to be on the job, but then again he had a very strong alcohol tolerance thanks to his mother. Celine, on the other hand, turned out to not be so lucky and was practically hanging off the younger man by the end of the night.

Now Naruto, being the gentleman that he was, took Celine back to her tent and put her in her sleeping bag. He would have left it that point if the brown haired older woman hadn't grabbed his arm and practically pulled him down on top of her.

"And where do you think you're going?" Celine asked her eyes half lidded and a small haze of lust coming over them, "Why don't you stay with me tonight?"

"That's not a good idea, you're drunk," Naruto stated as he tried to pull himself away from the older woman, who managed to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him just a bit closer.

"Come on, I just want to have a bit of fun," she moaned rather lustfully, a sound Naruto found himself appreciating more than he should.

"Celine," Naruto began but was cut off by the feeling of warm lips covering his, his red eyes widening just a bit at the sudden action, before he felt a warm tongue slip into his mouth.

This was a bad idea, this was a very bad idea, but Naruto's resistance slowly wilted away the longer Celine's tongue ravaged his mouth. Eventually the Branwen side of him, the side that doesn't back down from any challenge, reared its head and the fight was on. Celine let out a dazzling moan when Naruto's tongue began to fight her own, his lack of experience be more than made up for by his tenacity. Naruto eventually broke the case, the string is saliva going from his lips down to hers, and the way his red eyes stared at her made Celine's body shiver.

"If you want me to stop, then you should tell me now," Naruto said, his rough hands trailing down the side of her hips until eventually gliding down underneath her and gripping her firm rear.

"I..." she began, only for her breath to hitch when she felt Naruto's lips against her neck.

"This is your last chance," Naruto grinned just a bit more when he felt her body arc into his own, trying to cause as much friction between them as possible.

"Or –"

Celine pulled Naruto's lips away from her neck and began kissing him like crazy. Almost like her life depended on it. This time it was his tongue that slipped inside her mouth, hungry and demanding for more, and it wasn't like anything Celine had ever experienced before. Her hands went from around his neck to the back of his head, running through his messy blonde hair as he uses one hand to support himself and the other to slowly massage her rear.

His lips were like fire, the way his tongue toyed with hers made a pool of heat formed between her legs and only made her want him more. This dangerous young man, only a few years younger than herself, had possibly lived more than she ever had in those old universities. That's what made her burn for him, she always did have a thing for dangerous men. That and she was incredibly drunk right now.

The rest of the night was filled with moans of ecstasy and grunts like that of wild animals. Celine would remember every moment of it, despite how drunk she was, and the both of them would get the best sleep they'd had in their entire lives. She would even remember how safe she felt falling asleep with him, her head resting on his bare chest, and the sound of his heart allowing her to sleep.

The next day the whole caravan was back on the move, the tents having been packed up early in the morning and all traces of their existence there swept away by the desert. Naruto was once again riding with Ivan, after waking up to a very flushed Celine who stammered out apologies for her behavior the previous night. Now Ivan, after hearing what Naruto had gotten up to last night, proceeded to inform him that Celine was actually his daughter. This was then followed by Ivan laughing, rather loudly, at Naruto's shocked face and saying that his daughter was her own woman who could do as she pleased.

"You know, you nearly gave me a heart attack just now," Naruto said with a deadpan look on his face, which only seemed to make Ivan laugh even more.

"You should've seen what happened to the first boy that my little girl brought home, I don't think she's ever really forgiven me for running him off with the family shotgun! But I have calmed down since then and, if she is happy, I am happy for her," Ivan finished on a calmer note, glancing away from the desert road ahead of him to look down at an old paper map.

_"Ivan, Ivan can you read me,_" a voice came over the radio, apparently from one of their scouts if Naruto was reading the communication system right.

Ivan reached out and grabbed the communications device and raised it up to his mouth, "This is Ivan, what is it Scout 1?"

"_Ivan, we've got a big problem out here! There's a big nasty pack Manticores headed right your way, I hope that mercenary you hired is up to the task!_" the scout shouted, the roaring engine of his scout vehicle only being overshadowed by the roar of the Manticore.

Ivan turned to speak with Naruto, about to tell them to get out there, only to just barely catch a fleeting glance of Naruto's feet as he climbed out of the top hatch. The older man just smirked, he like this kid's attitude!

"All right everyone," Ivan shouted into his own radio, "Stay inside your vehicles and let our mercenary friend do his job! Remember, stay safe and stay together!"

Naruto couldn't help the grin that formed on his face as he stood atop Ivan's vehicle, the wind whipping around him as they flew through the desert at high speeds. In front of them, chasing a group of scouts that were hightailing it back to the main caravan, was a pack of no less than twenty Manticores and they looked hungry for blood.

The blonde haired Branwen swiftly pulled both daggers out from their holsters along the back of his waist, their sharpen blades gleaming in the sunlight, and launch them at Manticore just about to devour one of the scouts that had fallen behind. The twin blades, sharpened to a width of an atom, pierced into the manticore's eyes with enough force to explode from the back of its head. Then, as if by magic, both of the blades flew back into Naruto's awaiting hands.

This happened two more times before the Manticores finally realized that there was a possible threat to them, which they targeted with little regard to their own lives. One of the Manticores came at Naruto from behind, the horns on its head level with Naruto's back, only for Naruto to suddenly backflip at the last moment and stabbed both his blades into the beast's back! Naruto's excited laugh echoed the creatures painful roar as he now soared through the sky above the racing convoy. This was way more fun than fighting the Grimm back in Vale!

"Come on you big beastie, stay still!" Naruto shouted as he slowly stood up on the flying creatures back, still using his daggers to keep himself stable, before spying another Manticore coming right at him.

Naruto jumped off his current mount's back and onto the one charging at them both, this time grabbing onto the creatures horns for support while his legs wrapped around its neck in the tight chokehold. He then spun his dagger around in his hand a few times before stabbing it into the Manticore' right eye. Another howl of pain ripped through the air, only to be silenced when Naruto drove his other dagger down through its skull, leaving him in freefall.

"All right, time to really get this party started!" Naruto shouted, pulling up one of his sleeves to reveal a strange looking device which proceeded to fire a grapple hook into the chest of another Manticore.

Swinging through the air like a madman, Naruto put away both of his daggers and drew his sword with his free hand. The grapple hook embedded in the Manticore suddenly folded into itself and detached, the retractable system in his device bring it right back to him, just as Naruto got done decapitating two of the creatures and cutting off another one's wing.

"_Yes, I see my money was well spent on you!_" Ivan's voice shouted through Naruto's earpiece as the man himself watched Naruto work, amazed at how skilled the young man was.

"Just keep this caravan moving, I'll keep these guys focused on me!" Naruto grunted as his blade sliced through another of the creatures.

One of the Grimm actually managed to blindside Naruto from above, coming at him from the direction of the sun and ramming itself right into Naruto's chest. The thing about this Grimm, besides the fact it was obviously bigger than the others, was they also had more spike like protrusions coming from it. This was no doubt the Alpha of the pack and it was beyond angry!

"I hope you're hungry!" The young Branwen shouted as he reversed his sword grip, positioning his blade right in front of the Grimm's mouth, "For a flaming steel sandwich!"

The notches in Naruto's blade, the ones that Raven had even questioned him about when he was forging the weapon, suddenly sprang to life with fire! The Alpha Manticore roared in pain as its insides were burned and sliced all at the same time, even becoming so intense that fire burst out of it stomach! Eventually the creature died in Naruto was left free falling once more, his sword returning to normal and hiding its full capabilities.

Now with nothing but air underneath him, Naruto swung around and shot his grapple hook again, except this time it penetrated right through the Grimm's head. The creature died almost instantly when the hook expanded inside its brain, which in turn only pause Naruto's freefall for a split second.

"Well crap," Naruto grunted as he landed back on top of Ivan's vehicle, the creatures above him already swarming and getting ready to divebomb him!

"_Naruto, I hope you have a plan because there is no way we can survive something like that!_" Ivan shouted, knowing that they get hit by that swarm of manticores then the whole convoy could flip over and leave them all stranded.

"Yeah, I have an idea, but I don't think I'm gonna like it all that much!" Naruto shouted back, holding his hand out in front of him and closing his eyes to concentrate.

Raven had always told her son that his semblance was very destructive, that he always had to be in complete control when drawing upon it or it could destroy everything around him. Even after all these years of training how to use it, learning how to focus his mind and willpower to make sure it didn't suddenly explode out of him, Naruto felted barely even scratch the surface of being able to use it properly.

"Come on, for once just work with me here," Naruto growled as he continued to focus his semblance, feeling the destructive energy coursing through his entire body and coming together in the center of his outstretched hand.

A high-pitched screeching noise suddenly split the air and Naruto opened his eyes to see that it had worked. In the palm of his hand was a basketball sized orb of rotating red chaotic energy and it looked ready to explode at any moment! So, with the swarm of Grimm now coming right at them, Naruto leapt from the top of Ivan's vehicle once again. With a mighty roar of his own, Naruto actually threw the ball of energy at the approaching monsters and what came next was amazing.

The first Grimm got off lucky, it was disintegrated the moment the orb touched it, the surrounded ones weren't so lucky. Their soulless bodies were ripped apart by violent tides of red energy, rendering them to ash before they could actually physically turn to ash from dying. Then, just as fast as it had happened, the red energy dissipated into the sky and left nothing but clear roads ahead.

Naruto landed on the hood of Ivan's vehicle again, and was greeted by the sight of the older man giving him a wide smile and a thumbs up, "Now I'm starting to think you were a bargain!"

"Yeah, that took a bit out of me," Naruto replied, only for something completely unexpected to happen.

The Grimm that Naruto had originally used as a mount suddenly came flying at him from out of nowhere, having apparently not been with the swarm when it was destroyed. It's fanged covered mouth latched around Naruto's arm and suddenly took off with him into the sky! Naruto watched, in no small amount of panic, as the ground and the expedition got smaller and smaller. It didn't matter how tough he was, if he got any higher then the fall would kill him!

The sound of a rifle going off ripped through the air, the head of the manticore suddenly exploded, and Naruto found himself falling towards the ground as a frightening speed. Then, just moments before he hit the ground, Naruto saw, what looked to be, red and white rose petals floating around him."Who are you?"

(Several hours later)

Naruto wasn't sure what he would find when he woke up, in fact he was even sure that he would wake up after that fall he taken, but he certainly didn't expect to be on a rather comfortable bed. Everything about the bed said that it was homemade, from the bits of tree trunks that made the bedpost to the soft further made up the mattress, but there were worse ways to wake up. What was even more surprising was that he didn't feel the traditional pain that usually came from using his semblance.

"By the brother gods, what the hell hit me?" Naruto grunted as he struggled to sit up, his body feeling surprisingly sluggish despite the fact that he felt no pain.

Now that he was more awake, Naruto managed to get a good look around the area he'd been taken to. The stone walls and ceiling was a clear indication that they were either underground or inside a cave, the small torches flying the room lit up a desk in several bookcases, and the long hunting spear resting up against a nearby wall told Naruto that the person that saved him was at least a fighter.

Before Naruto could think anymore on the matter, let alone come up with a plausible plan of escape, the sound of footsteps alerted him to someone approaching. So, being as well-trained as he was, Naruto laid back down and pretended to still be unconscious. Naruto strained his ears to the max to pick up any distant sound, trying to determine if this was only one person or more, but couldn't tell from how far away they still were. Then the footfalls stopped in Naruto's danger sense exploded to life.

"I'm not going to hurt you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

More than a few months had passed since Naruto found his way out of the desert, having eventually met back up with Ivan's caravan and completed the job he was assigned to. Of course, in those few days in which he had been separated from them, Naruto had learned some very interesting things. Things that would put him in danger if anyone found out that he knew them, so he told no one.

Now, on another continent entirely, Naruto found himself slowly approaching a rather large city. The city was known as Vale, which was one of the largest cities in the country, and was home to Beacon Academy. It was actually a job that brought him to the city, given to him by a mysterious benefactor, but the money was high enough that he wasn't too concerned about just who would hired him. In fact, Naruto hoped he'd never meet this person because a person like that is only trouble.

His job was actually rather simple, infiltrate the local Academy and locate some sort of artifact that was hidden beneath it. That part wouldn't be too difficult, it was gaining entry that proved to be the hard part. Academies like Beacon were well known for their high security, state-of-the-art detection sensors, and being filled to a brim with people they know how to kill you in more ways than one. So, short of actually storming the place with a small army, the only way to gain access was become a student.

This is actually where the mysterious benefactor came in the play, given the fact that they had provided him with actual documentation that would get him into the school as a new student. The best part was that this job was on an unlimited time limit, given Naruto as much time as he needed to infiltrate the school and gain their trust.

"Now if only they'd offered to give me a ride here," Naruto grumbled as he finally made it within the city limits, having shown his fake ID to the city guards that kept the Grimm at bay.

Supposedly this school would open its doors the next few days, which gave Naruto plenty of time to make himself familiar with the city and find a hotel to stay at. Naruto shifted his dusty brown cloak, something he kept with him since his time in the desert, which only slightly displayed the weapons and armor he kept concealed underneath it. His clothing, which at one time only held small bits of armor to protect him and still give him some maneuverability, now consisted of light leather and several metal plates. He wore a single piece of metal as the chest plate, and several smaller plates of metal over his arms and wastes. He finally finished off his outfit with metal boots that traveled all the way up to his knees, and then metal gauntlets with pointed tips at the end of each finger to make them resemble clause.

Also, due to not having any proper grooming equipment while out in the desert, Naruto had grown a slight beard. It wasn't anything too dramatic, nor did it make him look older than he actually was, but it was something that Naruto felt needed to go. After all, he did want to look presentable on his first day of school.

**BOOM**!

The sound of an explosion definitely caught Naruto's attention, given that you don't normally hear them in such a large city, especially at night. With a small grin on his face, the idea of stretching his muscles a bit being too much to deny, Naruto broke off into a dead sprint towards the sound of fighting. Naruto rounded the corner and had to pause for what he saw, because you wouldn't expect to see a little girl, wielding a massive scythe, beating up several armed thugs. Ah, now he knew who she was, the red cloak and silver eyes were dead giveaway.

Spotting a man trying to sneak up on her, Naruto charge forward, leapt into the air, and planted both of his feet right against the man's face. Landing back on the ground, after doing a rather stylish backflip, Naruto found himself back to back with the little girl.

"Mind if I join in?" Naruto asked, turning his head to give the little girl a slight smirk.

"Ooooooh, this is going to be so much fun!" She practically squealed before the both of them took off towards the nearest victim.

Seeing as the little girl wasn't slicing the people into pieces with her massive scythe, which could apparently double as a rifle, Naruto decided to stick to his hands and just beat these guys to a pulp! His fists were like twin blurs of bone breaking destruction, slamming into his first targets chest like jackhammers straight from hell! Finishing with one overpowered punch to the face, enough to lift the man off the ground and send him into a wall, Naruto ducked under an ax ready to remove his head and turned around to deliver a flying kick in return!

"Common, i'm not even breaking a sweat over here," Naruto taunted, thumbing his nose as he bounced around on the tips of his toes, like some guy he'd seen in a vid.

Another one charged, his weapon of choice held high for a very obvious overhead strike, only to suddenly find his world going sideways and a armored boot lodged into the side of his face. Naruto gust kept grinning, using his already staggering momentum to flip around and deliver another devastating kick to another well dressed man. This continued on until there was a small pile of men on the ground and only one remaining, who looked scared out of his mind.

"Now now, there's no need to be afraid, this is only gonna hurt for a moment," Naruto just chuckled before he was suddenly in front of the man, delivering a punch so powerful that it shattered the man's jaw.

Naruto turn just in time to see another well dressed man, although this one wore a white suit and looked much different from the others, fire an explosive shot right at the red hooded girl. The shot was no doubt aimed at her feet, meaning her life was in no real danger, but Naruto still reacted regardless. His cloak shifted as he came to a skidding stop between the shot and the girl, revealing a bit of his armor and the hilt of his sword, before his blade was ripped from its sheath and batted away the projectile.

"Well...that was unexpected," was all the white clad man said before firing another shot, this time aimed to kill.

The little girl took this as her own invitation to attack, using Naruto's shoulders as a springboard to get above everyone, before leveling the barrel of her weapon with the man's cain. A well placed shot, which was impressive for someone so young, was all it took to knock the weapon out of his hands while Naruto allowed to explosive round to sail past him and explode against a nearby wall. With both his weapon out of reach and Naruto coming at him like a speeding train, the man could only mutter one word.

"Fuck."

Everything went black.

It wasn't long before the authorities arrived, courtesy of the man whose store had been robbed, and in that time Naruto became acquainted with the little girl he had helped out. Sure enough it was the person he thought it was; a young Ms. Ruby Rose. As it turns out the only reason she was even involved was because one of those thugs tried to rob her, something of which they now clearly regretted doing, and she was apparently attending Signal Academy to learn how to become a Huntress.

"So what your name?" Ruby asked, police officers moving around them and escorting the criminals into the back of their vehicles.

"Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Ha, you got a funny last name," Ruby laughed before quickly slamming her hand over her mouth, realizing how rude she must've sounded.

Naruto left as well, lowering his hood to finally reveal what he really looked like underneath, "Yeah, I guess it is, but it makes me stand out from everyone else."

Ruby actually felt her cheeks heat up a little bit at the sight of such a, in her opinion, ruggedly handsome young man, "Well I like it."

"Thanks," Naruto smirked, while Ruby's face heated up just that much more, "I'm glad a cutie like you likes my last name so much."

"Well," a very stern and feminine voice cut in, followed by the sound of heels clicking against stone, "I'm glad the two of you could become such fast friends."

Naruto was familiar with the woman known as Glynda Goodwitch, not personally of course but her reputation was rather impressive, and the profile he had on her was apparently spot on. Being a Huntress, even if she was more of a teacher these days, had clearly kept the woman in wonderful shape; no doubt leaving many of her male students distracted in class. Even Naruto had to admit that he wouldn't mind playing naughty teacher with her, those legs went on for days!

"Um, um, um, um," Ruby tried to stammer out, clearly more afraid of the blonde haired woman than Naruto was.

"We stopped a guy trying to rob a dust store, what's the problem?" hot she may be, but a Branwen backs down to no one.

"You'll both be coming with me to answer some questions," was Glynda's response, but Naruto just stood up and readjusted his cloak.

"Are you the police, because they said we were free to go," Naruto grinned in an almost mocking way.

"No I'm…" and like that, Naruto walked right past her without so much as a second glance, heading off to find a hotel for the night.

"Then I guess I'll be seeing ya," there was something about the way he was mocking her that reminded Glynda far too much of a certain crow, especially that grin of his.

To give Ruby credit, she did try and slip away while Glynda was focused on Naruto, but unfortunately she wasn't fast enough.

"And where do you think you're going?"

As Naruto walked down the street, cloak blowing lightly in the wind, he couldn't help but go back to that desert and remember everything he went through there. He pulled out a flask from the confines of his cloak, twisted open the cap, and took a small sip. The liquid burned going down, but it was a comforting burn. This job was gonna take a while.

Sure enough, Naruto did end up finding a rather cheap hotel to stay at. The bed was lumpy, the shower barely even worked, and Naruto was pretty sure there was still dried blood on the bathroom mirror, but it was cheap and out-of-the-way. So, with nothing left to do for the rest of the night, the young Branwen decided to relax. That is until he heard the sound of knocking at his door, which was rather strange considering no one even knew he was in the city.

_**Knock! Knock! Knock!**_

"Yeah I'm coming, I'm coming!" Naruto shouted as he finally got up from his bed, not even bothering to put his shirt back on, and walked over to the door with his knife held behind his back.

Opening up the door, Naruto wasn't expecting a rather attractive young woman to be standing on the other side. She was rather fair skinned, had long black hair and bright amber eyes. Her sharp facial features, combined with the way her eyes seemed to glow, gave her a rather dangerous and appealing appearance. Especially with her dark red, off the shoulder, V-neck mini dress with a yellow border. She practically screamed trouble.

"Naruto Uzumaki?" Dear Lord, even her voice was dark and seductive, Naruto felt the urge to play along.

"The one and only," Naruto flipped his blade around into reverse grip, "But I have a feeling you already knew that."

The woman smirked slightly, apparently amused, "We have a mutual friend, one that expects us to work together in the coming months."

"Oh, I get it now," Naruto grinned in an almost mocking way, "If that's the case, then why don't you come inside?"

"I'm afraid I have other business to attend to, but I was instructed to give you this," the woman reached down the middle of her dress, clearly attempting to steal Naruto's gaze with the way her hands slowly moved about her cleavage, before pulling out a simple piece of folded paper.

Naruto reached out to take the piece of paper, his blue eyes never breaking away from her amber ones, and he could've sworn he saw flash of fire within them. She was dangerous, which was unfortunate because Naruto like dangerous woman.

Said woman then suddenly reached out and grabbed Naruto's hand, only to find a blade pressed up against her throat and her back slammed against the door. Her mocking smile never wavered for a second, but then again neither did Naruto's.

"Cinder," she practically purred, "Welcome to Vale."

Naruto lowered his weapon and shook his hand free from her grasp, noting the way it almost felt burned.

"Thanks, I can't wait for us to start working more closely."

* * *

Meanwhile, several thousand miles away from the city of Vale, a lone bandit camp could be found in the middle of the large forest. A massive tent stood proudly in the middle of the camp, surrounded by smaller tents and a large wall made of wooden spikes, but it was the person inside this tent that was really important. After all, she was the proud mother of Naruto Branwen.

Raven knew that her actions didn't make her mother of the year, half the time she didn't even believe she deserved a happy life, but none that change the fact that she dearly missed her son. Her Naruto, who she watched grow from an innocent little boy into a warrior that would make any one in the Branwen tribe proud. She thought they would always be together, that they would be unstoppable, but then Naruto left.

She could understand why he did it, what teenager didn't want to go out and see the world, but that didn't make it hurt any less. Now Raven understood why Qrow drank so much, given that she was now slowly sipping on a brandy and look like she hadn't slept in days. Her hair was a mess, she had dark bags under her eyes, and the wrinkles she got from frowning made her look much older than she actually was. Not to mention that her armor was practically thrown all over the place and her sword was embedded in a wooden beam.

"Stupid brat," Raven grumbled as she took another sip of her drink, "Taking too much after me. Why did you have to inherit that to? Why can't you have been more like Tai? Been unwaveringly loyal, even to the point of stupidity."

Raven could still remember all the fun she used to have with her little Naruto, away from the other members of the tribe and where she could just be a happy mother. Even when they were just training together; she really just wanted to see him again.

"Leader," a random member of the tribe suddenly called out, opening the flap to Raven's tent, only for a knife to suddenly whiz past his face.

"I said that I didn't want to be disturbed," Raven's eyes almost glowed, a clear sign that she was more temperamental than normal.

"It's important," Raven's eyes narrowed even more, making the man sweat, "It's about Naruto."

Raven's eyes took on a new emotion, one that honestly scared the man more than her anger ever could. It was an emotion that could only be described as obsession, pure and simple.

Raven was up and in the man's face in an instant, the alcohol on her breath almost making him wince, "Tell me."

"One of our informants said that someone matching his description arrived in Vale earlier today. They described him almost perfectly, even mentioning the scars on his cheeks, and they even sent a picture," the man hastily answered, pulling out his scroll and showing the picture to Raven.

The red eyed woman's eyes widened at the side of her son, who looked much more mature despite only being gone for less than a year. She liked the beard though, it reminded her of when Tai grew his out, but it looks better on Naruto. Then there was his state of dress, which told Raven he clearly been in his fair share of battles and came out victorious.

"Send this picture to me and then inform the others that I'll be leaving for a few days," Raven suddenly ordered, her mind suddenly razor-sharp now that she had a lead to go off of.

"Yes ma'am."

Raven sat down on her bed, pulling out the larger of her two scrolls and pulling up the pictures she just been sent. She gazed down upon its with a loving expression, tracing her hand over the image. It had been so worrying, especially when she found out that she couldn't open a portal to her own son, but now she knew where he was.

"Don't worry, Naruto, mama is coming," Raven pause when a foul stench finally reached her nose, "After a very long shower and a full night's rest."

She found her baby boy and she wasn't going to let anything, or anyone, stand between them.

The glass picture of the two of them, which sat on Raven's bed stand, suddenly cracked. Most would've found it ominous, the way the crack ran through Raven's face and then down to the image of a baby Naruto.

* * *

In the highest tower, of Beacon Academy, sat a gray-haired man sipping on a cup of coffee. This man's name was Ozpin, the headmaster of said academy and a man of many secrets. Playing in front of him was recording of a fight that took place not a few hours ago, between two individuals and one Roman Torchwick. Glynda Gloodwitch, the headmistress and his right hand, had managed to talk to one of the fighters and even secured Ozpin a brief visit with them. Ruby Rose would now be attending Beacon Academy a few years ahead of schedule, but it was a second fighter that remained in the dark.

"Now, why are you so familiar to me, Mr. Uzumaki?" Ozpin asked himself as he stared harder at the footage, knowing that this teenager was someone he'd met before but couldn't place where.

The boys records said that he was self-taught and managed to pass the basic exams to get into an Academy, but there was just something off about it. It was the way he moved that really drew Ozpin's gaze, or more specifically how it was so familiar. If he didn't know better, Ozpin could've sworn he was looking at Raven, or at least someone taught by her.

"It could be her son, but Qrow had even confirmed the boy's death at the hands of the Grimm," Glynda said as she to observe the man fighting on the screen, still remembering how irritating that stupid smirk of his was.

"That's true, Qrow did say that he saw the boy's grave and that he'd never seen Raven so heartbroken. Still, make sure you keep an eye on him while he's here. Were too late in the game for an unknown party and everything needs to go just as planned," there is something different in his tone, Glynda noted, something ancient.

"You're playing a dangerous game, headmaster," Glynda never liked how manipulative Ozpin could be, especially after what she saw him do to manipulate Ruby.

"I've been at this game for a long time and it's time for it to end," Ozpin sighed, taking another sip of his coffee, "This will be the generation that ends the game."

"Very well, we will have cameras set up in the dorm that he gets placed into and monitor him closely," Glynda said before exiting his office, leaving the headmaster alone to once again watch the fight.

His eyes narrowed dangerously, "What your game, Salem?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Raven sat up in her bed the next morning, her head splitting like firewood, and a look of annoyance in her red eyes. She wasn't a morning person, never had been and most likely never would be, and it had been quite some time since she had to watch over her son every moment of the day. Naruto had grown up so fast before her very eyes, an unfortunate fact of living amongst the tribe, but she would often remember the early years she had with him; when he was still small. With a barley withheld groan, Raven forced herself out of bed and stumbled over to the wash bin, only to pause a moment later when something caught her eye. Walking over to her table, which was covered almost completely in empty bottles, Raven actually felt her eyes moisten up at what she saw.

"The Law of the Wolves," Raven whispered as she bent down and picked up an old paper, that's right it was real paper, book with the image of a wolf carved into the cover.

When Naruto was little, Raven used to read this book to him almost every night before he went to bed. It was the same book that Raven's own father used to read to Qrow and herself, which played a rather large part in shaping the red eyed bandit queen into the woman she was. It's why she was so loyal to her tribe, why Qrow abandoning them had hurt so much, and why she'd sacrificed so much for her only son. Sitting back down on the edge of her bed, Raven began to read while her mind wandered back far into the past.

"Now this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky, and the wolf that shall keep it may prosper."

(**Flashback**)

"_But the wolf that break it must die," Raven read slowly to a three-year-old Naruto, who looked up at his mother with wide red eyes that spoke only of innocence._

"_As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back; for the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack. Wash daily from nose tip to tail tip; drink deeply, but never too deep; and remember the night is for hunting and forget not the day is for sleep," Naruto giggled when Raven playfully poked his nose before tickling his toes, earning a surprisingly soft giggle in return._

"_The jackal may follow the tiger, but, cub, when thy whiskers are grown, remember the wolf is a hunter—go forth and get food of thy own," her father explain this to her at a young age, that while she was allowed to have help as a child, she would one day be expected to stand on her own before the world._

"_Keep peace with the lords of the jungle, the tiger, the panther, the bear; and trouble not Hathi the Silent, and mock not the boarbatusk in its lair. When pack meets with pack in the jungle, and neither will go from the trail, lie down till the leaders have spoken; it may be fair words shall prevail," as chief, she was expected to hold the safety of the tribe above whatever pride she may have, even if that means making peace with those that might stand against them._

"_When ye fight with a wolf of the pack ye must fight him alone and afar, lest others take part in the quarrel and the pack is diminished by war," this was another lesson she would need to teach her son early on; that any dispute in the clan should be held away from prying eyes and that their unity was what made them able to survive the wilds._

"_The lair of the wolf is his refuge, and where he has made him his home, not even the head wolf may enter, not even the council may come. The lair of the wolf is his refuge, but where he has digged it too plain,the council shall send him a message, and so he shall change it again. If ye kill before midnight be silent and wake not the woods with your bay, lest ye frighten the deer from the crop and thy brothers go empty away. Ye may kill for yourselves, and your mates, and your cubs as they need and ye can; but kill not for pleasure of killing, and seven times never kill man."_

"_Mama," the small child interrupted, drawing Raven's gaze away from the book._

"_Yes?"_

"_Are we wolves?" Naruto's innocent question drew another smile from Raven, something she'd done quite a bit more of over the years, before leaning down to kiss his forehead._

"_Yes, little one, we are one big wolf pack, and you are the prince. One day, just like for me, you will lead our tribe."_

"_I'll be strong like you?" Raven was sure Summer would have squealed in delight at the way Naruto cutely tilted his head to the side._

"_No," her abrupt answer drew confused look from the child._

"_Why not?"_

"_No one can be strong like me, because no one else is me. You must learn to be strong like you, little wolf," Raven wasn't sure why, but giving Naruto the same nickname she had somehow felt right._

_Raven had been her father's little shewolf, strong and proud, and now Naruto was her little wolf. He would lead everyone far better than she had._

"_The strength of the pack is the wolf," Naruto said after focusing for a moment, his voice tired while his eyes slowly closed._

_Raven smiled one more time as she crawled into the large bed next to her little Naruto, pulling him close as if to keep him safe._

(**End Flashback**)

"And the strength of the wolf is the pack," Raven whispered as she set the book back down on the table, now clothed in her traditional armor with her sword and rotary chamber sheath filled to the brim with six different kind of dust infused blades.

"I'm coming, little wolf," Raven vanished a moment later; a red eyed crow could be seen flying away from the Branwen camp.

* * *

Naruto grunted a bit in annoyance as the sun's rays peaked through his window, having just started rising over the mountains and lighting the sky up in a beautiful array of colors. Stretching his arms high above his head, the young Branwen couldn't suppress his grunt of relief when he felt almost all his joints pop at the same time. This was the day his mission would really begin, a mission more dangerous than any before it, and Naruto couldn't deny the small bit of excitement he felt.

So, after a quick shower and trimming his beard down down to an almost clean shave, Naruto donned his gear and inspected his weapons one last time. The armor could still use some work but his sword and twin knives were cleaned to perfection. Then there was his third and final weapon, something he got during his time in the desert. To any other person it would look like a simple collapsible spear, being that it seemed to fold in on itself for easier transport and concealment, but that was only partially true. If one were to look closely at the red tinted spear tip, they would notice a slight seam going down the middle of it. This seam was where the blade itself would split apart to reveal the barrel of the weapons gun mode. The gun of choice just so happened to be a highly powered sniper rifle, with the scope that popped out of the shaft itself and a trigger further back. It was a rather basic weapon, made long before the more fancy modern ones, but it got the job done.

"A well maintained weapon is a happy weapon," Naruto quoted the blacksmith that helped him forge his sword, not to mention nearly blew them all to hell because he liked using fire dust to heat his forge.

Raven gave them both a stern talking to for the next three hours. She was not impressed!

Getting back on track, Naruto exited his hotel room with a dramatic flapping of his cloak and a wide grin on his face. The manager, who was a grumpy old man with fading hair and squinted eyes, didn't even so much as acknowledge Naruto when he checked out. Still, a grumpy old man was better than an army of angry Grimm.

It also didn't take long for Naruto to find the airship that was to take him to Beacon Academy, given that there was a crowd of young people around it and a bunch of families wishing their children good luck. Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes at this, his life living with bandits had shaped his view of the people that lived within the kingdoms. They didn't know what it was like to truly survive, to scrounge every day for their next meal, to survive Grimm attack after Grimm attack. Although Naruto wasn't as vocal about it is some of his fellow Branwen tribe members.

"Know are you sure you both have everything? We can still go back to the house if you forgot anything, you guys could even go to school next year if you miss this transport," Naruto saw a father proclaim rather loudly, trying to convince his two daughters not to go to Beacon Academy.

One of the daughters Naruto was surprised to of recognized, given that he had fought alongside her not too long ago, but he was sure the girl was too young to go to such a prestigious academy. Then there was the older sister, who was clearly the more physically mature one and wore an outfit that would catch most people's attention. Although there was something else about her that drew Naruto's gaze, something on an instinctual level, but after a few moments he chose to ignore. He'd been attracted to random people before, it really was no surprise that he be attractive to someone as good-looking as that.

"Were fine dad, we have everything we need, so please stop freaking out," the older sister said as good-naturedly as she possibly could, although it was clear she was growing embarrassed from her father's antics.

"I know, I know, but can you blame me? I'm a single dad that's about to see his two little girls go off and learn how to fight monsters. I'm a nervous wreck right now," the dad chuckled, nervously scratching the back of his head, only for Ruby to suddenly lurch forward and wrapped her arms around the man's waist.

"We'll be fine, you and uncle Qrow taught us everything we know. You just have to take care of yourself now," Naruto actually found it rather touching the way Ruby was trying to comfort her father, although he quickly decided to move on to the ship just in case they took notice of his eavesdropping.

The airship's interior wasn't actually all that big, being about 12 feet across and not that long. The viewing gallery was rather fancy looking, with four symmetrical windows mounted facing down so that people could see the city below, green flooring with a simplistic design, and the couch spending the entire length of the windows. Naruto chose to actually rest up against one of the back walls while also claiming a spot on the couch, so that he could have a clear view of everyone that boards the ship.

"Now, let's see what kind of threat these people might be," one of the first lessons Naruto had ever been taught was how to gauge people, figure out their strengths and weaknesses, and more importantly he was taught had to do it without being caught.

The first few people the board of the ship weren't all that impressive, wielding basic weaponry and even more basic armor, but he didn't have to wait long for someone interesting to step aboard. Naruto recognized her almost instantly, Pyrrha Nikos, the so-called "Invincible Girl" wasn't one who could go places without being recognized. Naruto had watched a few of her matches, mostly during his trip to Vale, and had deduced her semblance after only a few moments of thinking about it. It was actually pretty clever, given that almost all weapons nowadays were made out of metal and she didn't broadcast her ability. Still, as far as train fighters go for his year, Naruto had a feeling that she would be the toughest one.

A few more students came in, and then there was Ruby and her big sister. Naruto actually found a bit of amusement watching the older girl practically crush her little sister in a bear hug, talking so loud that even he could hear them from across the ship. The young Branwen could tell, just by her personality alone, that the big sister was a heavy hitter. Everything about her just screamed "tank" and that's why she would be one of the easiest people for Naruto to fight if it ever came down to it.

"Hm, maybe I should go over and say hi to little red," Naruto silently contemplated to himself, weighing the pros and cons of actually getting involved with these kids.

Just off the top of his head, he would already have a pre established relationship with someone at the school, but on the flipside he might grow too attached to them. That had always been both one of his greatest strengths and greatest flaws; he tended to get attached.

"Naruto, hey Naruto, over here!" It would seem Naruto's decision had been made for him, for Ruby had somehow managed to spot him.

With the shake of his head and a soft smile on his face, Naruto got up from his rather comfy position and approached the two sisters. Ruby was practically jumping up and down with excitement, showing a type of innocence that not many people had. Her sister, on the other hand, was sending Naruto the type of look that a predator would send a fresh lump of meat.

"Well, well, well, I didn't think I'd be seeing you here, little red," Naruto greeted when he finally came to a stop across from the two girls, one hand resting on his hip in a rather relaxed manner.

"You mean after you abandon me to Ms. Goodwitch?!" Ruby's happy expression shattered like glass and was replaced by a rather cute, and not at all intimidating, silver eyed glare.

"I saw you manhandle a bunch of armed thugs, I figured you could handle one lonely teacher," Naruto answered with a shrug, his roguish grin on full blast, "Besides, it apparently all worked out in the end."

"Cough, cough," the blonde sister coughed into her hand, clearly have enough with being ignored.

"Oh, Naruto, this is my big sister, Yang!" and, just like that, Ruby was back to her hyper and happy self.

"So you're the guy that my little sister hasn't stopped talking about; I can see why," Yang's grin almost matched Naruto's perfectly, even when she leaned next to him to whisper into his ear, "I think she has a crush."

"Yang!" Ruby cried in embarrassment, her pale cheeks flushed.

Yang just laughed as she rests her arm on Naruto shoulder, idly flipping her golden hair back, "She's not denying it, but who can blame her, you are pretty cute."

Naruto's deep red eyes narrowed just a fraction, now he understood what was going on. Really he should have expected it, no girl was this flirty while their younger sister was round, not to mention they didn't tend to make jokes about said sister having a crush on an older guy. It was admirable, the way Yang was feeling him out, but he wasn't going to be that easy to get a read on.

"I don't know," Naruto began, never breaking eye contact with Yang, "You're pretty cute yourself."

"Trust me, with me you'll have a _Yanging _good time," ah, so she was a lover of bad puns.

"Well blondes do have more fun," Naruto shot back.

"I'm sure we'll have plenty of fun together," Yang moved to face Naruto, mirroring the way he rested his hand on his hip.

"I'm sure will _Yang _the day away."

Neither of the two bond noticed it, but they'd been inching closer and closer the more they went on until finally something gave way. That something came in the form of a very red-faced Ruby, her innocent little mind couldn't handle all the painfully obvious flirting.

"Guys!" Ruby almost regretted her decision with a pair of red and a pair of violet eyes fell upon her at the same time.

The two blondes had united against the little red riding hood; she'd have better luck against a big bad wolf.

(Half an hour later)

The sight of Beacon Academy truly was a sight to behold, looking more like an ancient fortress than a school, and was definitely more impressive up close and person. The most prominent part of the academy was the massive tower that stood in the middle of it all, even going so far as to practically scrape the very clouds, which had several green orbs floating inside it. Yet Naruto's gaze was drawn to the main avenue they had all been dropped off on and the massive main door that no doubt led to the rest of the school. The avenue was also marked with trees and flag-draped light-poles, as well as a number of impressive aqueduct-like features and archways.

"Man, this place sure is something else," Naruto whistled as he stepped off the airship with Yang and Ruby, his and Ruby's cloaks blowing gently in the afternoon breeze.

"You can say that again! Signal has nothing on this place!" Yang laughed, already thinking of all the trouble she could get up to in a place as large as Beacon.

Both blondes seemed to take notice of Ruby's lack of reaction and turned to face the blackette at almost the exact same time. Ruby, whose face was completely scarlet, absolutely refused to even look in Yang and Naruto's general direction. She'd been teased by Yang her whole life, but what she was just put through was on an entire different level! Her innocent mind would never be the same, she'd never be able to look either of the blondes in the eye again! All of her embarrassing stories, from the time she ran outside with her diaper on her head to her embarrassing first time activating her semblance! She never should have felt her room.

"Ruby? Hey Ruby. Ruby. Ruby! Ruby! RUBBBBBYYYYY!" Yang began to obnoxiously try to get her little sister's attention, even poking her in her flushed chubby cheeks each time she called her name.

"What?!" Ruby finally snapped, shooting a glare at Yang but quickly looking away with a renewed blush.

"I think we broke her," Naruto commented, finding his ability to match Yang's personality almost too easy.

"Nah, she'll be find," Yang waved off Naruto's concerns, only for a knowing smile to form on her lips and a wink to be sent Naruto's way, "Hey Ruby, doesn't that girl over there have a flaming sword?"

Naruto was now more than a bit confused; what was Yang trying to do?

_WOOOOOSH!_

His answer came just moments later when Ruby took off like a squirrel with twenty shots of espresso pumped right into her veins! She was buzzing around like a little chibi fairy, going on and on about every new weapon her gray eyes fell upon. Naruto watched her with a bemused expression, his vermilion following the red and black blur without much difficulty, before she came flying back at him with rose petals in her wake.

"There's so many!" Ruby cheered as she went flying over Naruto's shoulder, her eyes set upon a massive looking sword that looked to be made up of no less than _**SIX**_ different blades, only to suddenly come to a halt.

Naruto had somehow managed to catch Ruby over his shoulder, now holding her like a sack of potatoes, without any visible strain. Not only had this impressed Yang, who lost track of the many times Ruby has sent her flying just by ramming into her, but the sudden stop had also brought Ruby back to reality.

"Easy there, little red," Naruto said, putting the younger girl down in front of him, "Why don't you get to know the people before their weapons?"

Ruby flushed and looked away again, poking her two index fingers together nervously, "But I really like seeing new weapons. It's like meeting new people but better."

At Naruto's raised eyebrow, Yang leaned over and whispered into his ear, "She doesn't like large crowds, plus we're all older than her and she left all her friends behind at Signal."

Ah, now he understood. Naruto had momentarily forgotten that most people raised in the kingdoms didn't have the same views as those living in the wilds. A young man, at the age of fourteen, was expected to work in the some conditions as a man of thirty. The kingdoms didn't have this standard and so some young people found it harder to interact with others. If Ruby was going to be of any use to him, not to mention he might gain an allie out of Yang for helping her younger sister, then Naruto would need to assist her in overcoming this little detriment to her social life.

* * *

Cinder Fall was a woman that craved only one thing in life. It wasn't beauty, she already had that in spades, and it wasn't to become one of those self righteous _Huntresses_. No, above all other things, Cinder craved _power_! She'd seen what kind of power her mistress commanded, not to mention she'd been on the receiving end of it for some of her earlier failings, and that's what she craved. So, when her mistress hired on a simple mercenary to help them with their goals at Beacon, Cinder just had to find out what made this Naruto Uzumaki so special. This led to her taking a bit of useful information, putting on her most appealing dress, and going over to personally give it to the man.

He was ruggedly handsome, even if a little unkempt due to his time in the wilds, but it was his eyes that really gave it away. Not to mention he'd had her pinned to the wall, blade to her neck, almost faster than she could follow. Yet it was still his eyes that betrayed the power he held within; a malevolent energy that was the end of all things in came in contact with. This only made her want to know more, so she went to the one person that had eyes all across the planet.

"Cinder," a woman's voice spoke from the odd looking Grimm floating before the yellow eyed woman, "I take it the information has been delivered?"

"Yes, mistress," Cinder answered quickly, "But I still don't understand why we need a simple mercenary. Emerald, Mercury, and myself are more than enough to bring down Beacon."

The woman just sighed, her _glowing_ red eyes shining with irritation, "Don't beat around the bush and ask what you really want to know."

"What makes him so special, why'd we hire him?"

Her mistress grinned, she actually _grinned_!

"My dear Cinder, if that's all you wanted to know then you should have just asked," the Grimm creature reaches out with one of its tendrils and touched Cinder's forehead, "Infact, let me show you."

Cinder allowed her mind to be flooded with one single even, an even that took pace just a few months ago, and by the end of it she fell to her knees. Her yellow eyes were wide in shock, horror, and shere awe. Her legs even ended up giving out after a few short moment, not to mention her cheeks were flushed is shere _desire_. She wanted that power, even if it meant claiming the man it belonged to!

Slowly Cinder got back to her feet, ignoring the satisfied look her mistress was shooting her way, and walked away with a single image burned into her mind for the rest of her life.

A creature, made entirely out of a hellish red energy, tore through hordes and hordes of Grimm out in the vast desert. Four strange tails were soon turned to six, the bone from the slaughtered Grimm seemed to liquify before forming around the creature like some kind of skeleton. When the newly formed skull formed, in the shape of a fox's, glowing white circles could be seen in the place of eyes and a savage looking maw replaced where a mouth should be. Then it roared.

"Amazing."

* * *

**I don't usually do AN's but I'm probably in need of a beta and the selection process on this site is borderline garbage. Also I'll be accepting any and all ideas my loyal readers may have. So read and review please.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The next morning found Naruto waking up in a sleeping bag of all things, which was already much softer than a desert cave, but was slightly surprised to find he wasn't the only one. Yang, who had cuddled next to Ruby like a mother bear, had also apparently just woke up. At almost the same time the two blondes stretched, the sound of their joints popping being heard by the other, but the way Yang's tank top lifted up to reveal her toned stomach was a welcome sight to the blonde Branwen. They both just grinned at each other from their respective spots, Yang was more than happy to ogle Naruto's bare chest and the defined scars that no doubt had some great stories behind them.

"So," Naruto began as they both ended up walking towards the locker room, leaving behind their fellow new students that wanted to sleep in.

"Think this place has a gym?" Yang asked with a grin, getting a matching one in turn.

"Early morning workout to get the blood pumping?"

Yang wrapped her arm around his shoulder, "Is there any other way to start the day?"

"I could think of a few," Yang actually got caught off guard but that one, although she quickly hid it behind a loud laugh.

"Where have you been all my life? It's like our personalities are in sync."

"Kicking ass and taking names."

As it turns out, since they didn't already have so much in common already, Yang and Naruto also trained with the same amount of intensity. Even though Yang trained for power, which was reflected by her strong core and well toned arms, Naruto was more than a little impressed to see she didn't neglect her speed or insurance all that much. More often than not, fighters that went for power couldn't often do marathon fights.

"How are you so flexible?" Yang asked as she delivered another bone shattering punch to the heavy bag mounted in front of her, all the while watching Naruto practically do the splits while stretching his legs.

"What can I say?" Naruto grunted, "My mom was a flexible fighter and she made sure I was one too."

"I get where you're coming from, my old man was the brawler for his old team. Now I hit like a train!" Yang laughed as she delivered another series of gabs, which not only pushed the bag back but also the metal frame it hung from.

"I can see that," Naruto laughed, 'Note to self: don't get hit by those fists..._ever_!'

"Ya sounds a bit nervous there; don't worry, I won't break you too much," Yang said with grin and a wink.

Naruto just laughed again, a laugh that wasn't part of the mask he'd been using since he got to Beacon, and jumped to his feet. With his stretching over with, Naruto walked over to where Yang was going to town and began beating into his own bag. Unlike Yang, who went for straightforward attacks, Naruto mixed in a variety of both punches and kicks. It was clear to the both of them where they stood in power and versatility.

Little did either of them know that a black haired girl, with a black bow in her equally black hair, had also woken up early and followed the two blondes from the shadows. Clutches tightly in her hands was a book titled "Ninjas of Love " but her illuminated yellow eyes never wavered from the two training blondes. Her cheeks flushed slightly, blondes with abs were _definitely _her type.

"Hey, you feel like someone's watching us?" the black haired girl vanished into the shadows, like a _ninja._

* * *

One hour later, which had been more than enough time for the two blondes to get properly warmed up, and the first batch of new recruits had been led out to a large cliffside overlooking a massive forest the likes of which many of them had never seen before. Naruto could best describe it as a sea of emerald surrounded by towering gray mountains, and off in the distance was what looked to be a manmade structure. Red eyes narrowed slightly in an attempt to make out what it could possibly be, only for a head of long blonde hair to suddenly abstract his view. Yang stood there, Ruby struggling to escape the headlock her sister had her in, and held out her scroll for Naruto to take.

"It's for our dad," Yang answered Naruto's unasked question, tightening her grip when Ruby nearly escaped, and gave him a wink, "I'll owe you one."

Naruto just chuckled and took the offered scroll, it was already set to the camera function, "I'll remember that."

"Yaaaang, everyone's looking," sure enough everyone in their group, including the headmaster and headmistress, had stopped to look upon the trio with mostly bewildered looks.

Glynda Goodwitch herself looked like she was about to pop a blood vessel, especially with the menacing purple aura glowing around her. Also, the glare she was sending Naruto's direction clearly showed that she still remembered the disrespect he showed her just a few days ago. Although it was Ozpin, the very man Naruto had been sent to kill, that looked more amused than irritated or angered by the trio. His gaze had zoned out, a fond smile forming on his face, and Naruto suddenly got the feeling he was now looking at a completely different person. Like a subtle shift in the wind.

"Please, don't mind us," Ozpin spoke up, his voice seemingly distant but somehow sinking into everyone's very bones, "It's rather refreshing to see two children wanting to make their parent smile."

Glynda looked like she wanted to protest, this was far outside what was allowed, but one look from Ozpin was all it took so crush any approaching argument. Naruto silently took note of this, but nonetheless brought his attention to the happily posing Yang and the very embarrassed Ruby. He silently wondered if Raven would also like a picture, seeing as this was the academy she'd gone to, but then he remembered what type of woman she was.

It was also at this point that Ozpin began his little speech, the one he gave to each and every group of new students the moment they arrived on the cliff. He'd given it to Galindo when she was still his student, to Qrow and Raven, and so many others that he'd nearly forgotten their names. It was meant to both tell them their objective, which he tended to change every couple of years, and warned them of the dangers they would be facing. This was no longer a game, they would have to be ready.

"For years, you've trained to become warriors," Ozpin began, watching as each member of this group stepped upon square tiles evenly spaced out into a straight line, "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now, sure many of you had heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teams...today," Glynda interrupted, which was apparently to be expected seen as Ozpin didn't react in the slightest, and Naruto could've sworn he heard Ruby's mind break just a little bit.

Ozpin continued without a second thought, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at beacon. So it's in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well with."

Naruto and Yang both looked at each other at the same time and grinned, which actually made Ozpin shudder just a little bit. He remembered what Yang's father had been like, he's constantly reminded of what her mother is like, and the thought of her pairing up with someone like Naruto was a bit frightening.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years," Ruby's cry of horror and outrage could be heard by all, but at this point who could blame her?

"Ruby looks like she's about to have a panic attack," Naruto whispered to Yang, who just nodded with a slightly concerned look on her face.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will surely meet various Grimm on your path. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will surely be killed," some of the other new recruits sobered up rather quickly, but it was those that didn't they caught Ozpin's notice.

Naruto decided to tune out the rest of Ozpin's little speech, he got the gist of what they needed to do and would get it done. After all, it helps when your own mother managed to complete this task single-handedly and did end up getting a partner till after she'd already claimed her own relic. She said it was because she didn't want anyone slowing her down, and so she blindfolded herself for the entire mission. As a young boy, Naruto had been awed by his mother's ability to do a mission without her sight, but the gap in skill between them had closed much over the following years.

"Now, everyone take your positions," was the last thing Naruto heard from Ozpin, taking the young Branwen out of his daydreaming.

"I'll be on the lookout for you, whiskers," said Yang as she put on a pair of aviator sunglasses.

"You'll have to catch me first, gorgeous," Naruto shot back as he took his own ready stance, his feet spread apart while his left hand gripped the sheath of his sword and his right hand gripped the hilt.

Naruto was sent flying into the air not seconds later, his cloak flapping in the wind as he went up and up into the sky. It was only when he reached the height of his arc that Naruto folded his arms close to his body and locked his legs together. He moved faster on the ground, so the best course of action would be to get to the ground as quickly as also meant he have to be able to slow his landing so that the impact wouldn't kill him, which was easier said than done. Faster and faster the treetop canopy rose up to greet him, and it was at this moment that Naruto acted. Both of his garments lashed out in front of him, his hands held up so that the grapple device hidden beneath them could fire. Two hooks, attached to the gauntlets by reinforced wire, shot down and dug into one of the thick tree branches below.

Naruto's aura flashed around his arms and shoulders, reinforcing them for what was about to happen. He flew past the large branch and waited for the moment for the wire to catch him, and when it did he felt like his arms were nearly dislocated. His forward momentum made him spin around through the air, but Naruto managed to correct himself mid flight and actually land on the tree branch itself. The hooks detached from the branch, and a mechanical device inside his gauntlets reeled the wires back in. It wasn't the best type of landing, but it got the job done.

"Note to self, find a better way to survive falling several thousand feet from the sky," Naruto grunted as he rotated his shoulders, feeling no lasting damage but it's still kind of stung.

The sound of someone cheering, followed by weapons fire, was the only warning Naruto had before Yang suddenly went flying over him, laughing like a mad woman the whole time. Naruto just shook his head in exasperation, wondering if she'd always been this excitable, but he had a mission to complete first. So, after taking a moment to figure out which way was north, Naruto jumped off the tree branch and took off deeper into the forest.

Tree after tree flew past Naruto as he continued to race through the forest, passing Grimm of all shapes and sizes until he had a practical horde of them right on his tail. They were anything too bad, at least nothing he couldn't deal with on his own, but they would be a pain once he actually got to the temple. It would probably be best to deal with them now, but Naruto still felt that he had some ground to make up. After all, if Yang was able to get so far ahead of him and who's to say the others hadn't already?

"What, you want some to?!" Naruto heard right as he burst into another clearing, his eyes laser focused on the massive Ursa, before he shot forward and cut the creature in half with a quick slice of his sword.

Blinking for a moment, Naruto's red eyes met the bright yellow eyes of a dark-haired girl, who had a bowtie in her hair. Meanwhile, the dark-haired girl's eyes locked with a temperamental Yang's. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, aside from the fact that it all happened at the same time, and so nobody knew who their partner was going to be. Leave it to Yang to still be focused on the fact that her kill was just stolen.

"I could've taken him," Yang said, putting her hands on her hips, but the dark-haired girl just rolled her eyes.

"And the rest of the forest while you are at it," Naruto commented as he flipped his katana into a reverse grip and slid it back into its sheath.

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" At the same time, Naruto and the dark-haired girl looked over at the pulverized Ursa that Yang had previously punched into oblivion.

"Anyway," the dark-haired girl finally spoke up, "Who is whose partner?"

Both blondes glanced at each other before simply shrugging their arms, earning them an exasperated look.

"Does it really matter? I mean we're in a forest full of Grimm and just trying to survive, let's let the teachers sort out this mess," Naruto said with a shrug of his shoulders, just before the small horde that was following him burst into the clearing.

"Friends of yours?" Yang teased.

"What can I say? These things just love me."

"I should've just stayed up in the trees," the dark-haired girl said as she readied her weapon, "My name is Blake, by the way."

"I'm Naruto and this is Yang, it's a pleasure to fight by your side today," he said in a carefree town, getting into his ready stance.

"Oh yeah, now this is what I call a party!" fire exploded out of Yang as she punched her fist together, her gauntlets now re-loaded.

The Grimm roared in challenge in charge the three hunters and training, but little did they know that this would be their last days alive. For a legend was born this day and would be remembered for years to come.

Yang charged forward with a gleeful warcry of her own, shooting at the Grimm until they got within striking range, and the punch she delivered to one unlucky Beowolf was strong enough to shatter it's head like a melon. This unfortunately left the blonde boxer well and truly open for the other Grimm to flank her from both sides. Or that would have been the case had Naruto not suddenly appeared on her right, cleaving another wolf in two with a powerful two-handed downward swing of his katana, and Blake doing much the same with her own unique weapon.

Naruto nimbly dodged a clawed swipe at his head, ducking down and spinning into a low crouch while his blade glided through the Grimm's soft flesh. His cloak shifted as he did so to reveal the hilt of one of his two daggers, which was gripped moments later and slammed into the eye of a massive Ursa.

Another loud roar alerted him to three different wolves leaping towards him at once, their maws was open to reveal razor-sharp and jagged teeth. Naruto just smirked at his good fortune, they were all lined up!

"Die!" He exclaimed as his blade burst into flames and, in one single swing, Naruto decapitated all of them.

This is proving to be a great fight, Grimm were so much more of a challenge than common thugs and he got to fight alongside two beautiful teenage girls! Even as he dodged and flipped over numerous other Grimm, Naruto still cuts side of Yang and Blake fighting their own battles. Yang was like a tank, a tank that like to punch things, and had been laughing this entire time. Blake, on the other hand, was like a silent killing machine. Her weapon of choice, which seemed to be a gun, a slightly shorter than normal katana, and a kusarigama.

She was nimble as well, having led more than a few of the Grimm to the edge of the clearing where she could use the trees to her advantage. She got the high ground on one of the branches first, using a weapon like a grappling hook with a rather durable ribbon tied to it, and use the Grimm's slower speed against them. Blake would've made a good bandit, or at least Naruto like to think so.

On and on they thought, the Grimm forcing them closer and closer together until they were eventually making up different styled team attacks just to stay mobile. Naruto's favorite one was when he had given Yang the end of his grapple and Blake had done the same at the end of her ribbon. The blonde bombshell then proceeded to spin them both around while they use their katanas to slice apart the Grimm before they ever got close. She would then let them both go and the fight would start again!

In the end of it there was only one Grimm remaining, poor little Ursa with nowhere left to run. Naruto, Blake, and Yang all stood on three different sides of the creature, black smoke and decaying Grimm bodies littered around them. They each took their ready stance, the Ursa let out a whimper, and then they attacked. Blake went low, taking the creature's legs out from under it by literally cutting them off. Naruto went high, spinning through the air like a maelstrom of blades, removing its arms with two devastating strikes. Finally, to top it all off, Yang once again propelled herself forward with a blast from her weapons, flying through the air with another happy cry. Her face slammed into the creature's face and it was quite literally blown to pieces.

"Well that was fun," Yang laughed a tired laugh, haven't having to put that much effort into a fight in quite a while, and she be lying if she said it didn't get her a bit excited!

"It was...entertaining," Blake tried to keep the smile off her face, focusing on sheathing her sword and attaching it to her back.

"We should do it again sometime," Naruto sheathed his own weapons and readjusted his cloak.

As one the trio turned and began walking north once again, the shadow of a massive Nevermore passing over them for just a split second. Yang could've sworn she saw a dash of red on the creature's back and something bright white being held in its talons. Oh well, she doubted it was anything important.

* * *

As it turns out it was something rather important, for now Yang stood paralyzed as Ruby came falling out of the sky like a high-speed missile. No one had really been expecting it, especially since the trio had finally made it to the abandoned temple and was about to collected their artifact. So all Yank due was cursed just seconds before her little sister slammed into her, sending them both crumbling to the ground in a heap of flailing limbs and painful groans. Naruto actually looked rather amused, but Blake on the other hand look like she couldn't comprehend what just happened.

"Did she just fall out of the sky?" Blake asked, for a moment thinking that the girl had somehow remained airborne ever since been launched off the cliff.

"It would seem that way," Naruto tried to stifle his laugh, but failed rather miserably.

"I'm glad you find this so funny," Yang groaned out as she struggled to sit up with a passed out Ruby on top of her, "Next time she can hit you and then we'll see if you're still laughing."

Whatever Naruto was about to say next was cut off by the roar of another Ursa, only for an explosion of some kind to hit its back and for it to fall over dead. Riding on the back of the now dead creature was an orange haired girl with the white and black top and a pink skirt. Walking up from behind the dead Grimm was a young man with long black hair ending in almost all green uniform; Naruto thought he looked like the wannabe ninja.

"Nora, please don't do that again," the green wearing teen huffed out, clearly out of breath from whatever torment he just been put through by his orange haired containing.

The Orchard girl had apparently rushed past Naruto and snatched the Knight chess piece he was about to grab, "Oh look at pony!"

"Nora!" The long-haired teen shouted, this time with a harsher edge to his voice, but the girl just giggled and gave a mock salute.

"Coming Ren!"

"Did that girl just ride all the way here on the back of an Ursa?" Blake was starting to wonder if she should have just stayed home, it would've been so much more peaceful.

"I..." Yang tried to speak, having just barely managed to pick yourself up off the ground while we Ruby was slowly coming back to the waking world.

"Hey, what's that over there?" Naruto asked, pointing to where he saw some trees being knocked down, just as a familiar redhead came bursting to the forest with a Deathstalker right on her heels.

"Did she run all the way here with a Deathstalker chasing after her?" Yang looked like she was about to explode, which she did end up doing about three seconds later.

"Would everyone just shut the hell up for five seconds, is that so much to ask? Just five seconds of peace and quiet so my head would stopped splitting like a piece firewood thrown into a volcano!" Blake actually jumped back a bit it Yang sudden outburst, having been taken by surprise when her hair literally caught on fire and her eyes became a vibrant red!

"Easy there gorgeous, no need to have a meltdown," Naruto, apparently having more guts than all of them combined, actually padded the still flaming gang on her shoulder.

Of course she also dodged the reflexive punch she sent towards his face, moving his head slightly to the side but never breaking eye contact with her. Red and red stared into each other before the girl's eyes suddenly reverted back to the normal lilac color. Yang at least had the decency to blush after nearly taking off her teammates head.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it, it's not the first time the girls tried to take off my head and I doubt it'll be the last," Naruto said, waving his hand back and forth nonchalantly.

"Ouch, my head," and Ruby had finally come back to the land of the living, clutching her head in pain as she slowly sat up.

"Hey little sis, you okay?" Yang asked as she knelt down next to Ruby, already going into her infamous mother hen mode.

"I think so, but where's Weiss?" Ruby asked, drawing confused looks from pretty much everyone around her, all the while everyone still ignored the redhead being chased by the Grimm in the background.

"Who's Weiss?" Naruto asked, only for him to be answered by another scream from up above them.

As it turns out, Weiss was a girl he saw before that was in all white and she was currently falling from the sky in a less graceful manner than even Ruby. Naruto just clicked his tongue in irritation, crouched down to tighten the muscles in his legs, before suddenly flinging himself up towards the falling princess. In no time at all his right arm was looped underneath her knees while he supported her back in his right.

"Hey, you falling my way?" Naruto asked with a rather cheesy grin, getting both a surprised and flustered look on Weiss' face.

Naruto landed on the ground with barely even a rattle of his armor, making sure to absorb most of the impact himself that way Weiss wouldn't accidentally be thrown out of his arms. The now flustered white themed girl wasted no time in pretty much jumping out of his arms, before leveling one of the most icy glares he'd ever seen at him.

"I had everything under control!" Weiss shouted, before turning her icy glare upon Ruby, "And you! I can't believe you just abandoned me up there! I can't believe I even agreed to go up on that thing!"

"I said to jump!" Ruby tried to argue, only to wince when her throbbing head practically vibrated some more.

"What sane person jumps off the back of the Nevermore?!"

"Hey, back off my little sister!" Yang butted in.

"This doesn't concern you!"

"My fist is going to concern your face if you don't back off!" as if to reinforce her threat, both of Yang's gauntlets made a cocking sound and a round was loaded into the chamber.

"LOUD NOISES!" Naruto suddenly shouted over all of them, even going so far as to draw his sword and ignite it just to get their attention.

The three arguing girls jumped it Naruto sudden intervention, even Blake jumped a little bit, and just stared at Naruto with widened eyes. The serious intense moment was destroyed when Pyrrha was suddenly flung to the ground in front of all them.

"Great, now we can all die together," Yang huffed out, still slightly glaring at Weiss.

Ruby, seeing her chance to finally prove herself in her sister's eyes suddenly shot to her feet and charge the Deathstalker, "Not a I have anything to say about it!"

Ruby took off before anyone even had a chance to stop her, her weapon already in its scythe form but she apparently forgot one of the key facts about a Deathstalker. Deathstalker's were notorious for their dense armor and it was often advised to either avoid them altogether or somehow attack their underbelly. Yet Ruby, for all her enthusiasm, thought she could defy those simple facts and tried to cleave through the thickest part of its armor. It ended much the way Naruto thought it would, with the massive weapon bouncing harmlessly off the Grimm.

"Ruby!" Yang cried out, already on the move to protect her sister, but they were soon overshadowed by a massive Nevermore.

The blackette made to run away, to get to the safety of her sister's arms, but things hardly ever go the way people plan them to. Massive dagger like feathers suddenly rained down from above upon both the girls, with one of them stabbing Ruby's cloak into the ground while the rest knocked Yang off her feet. The Deathstalker was upon Ruby in seconds, its massive stinger poised and ready to end her already short life. Ruby just closed her eyes.

A high-pitch screeching noise suddenly split the air, Ruby felt something fly right past the side of her head, and a suddenly explosive shockwave hit her with enough force to not only tear her cloak but send her flying back to Yang! Yang just sat there on the ground, her little sis slumped in her arms, but the sight before her was so much more distracting.

"You bastards just don't know when to quit, do you?" Naruto was now standing where Ruby had once been, his arm outstretched and the ground before him was completely uprooted.

(Moments Ago)

'Dammit, I can't let this happen!' Naruto roared in his mind, his legs already moving to push him towards Ruby.

Naruto didn't even know what he was going to do once he got to her, but he just knew he had to do something! With each step he took the stinger came closer and closer to Ruby; he knew he would never make it on time.

"_**I'll help you out, but you'll owe me one.**_"

Naruto was suddenly standing in between Ruby and the Deathstalker, a familiar ball of chaotic red energy spinning in his hands, and he didn't even hesitate. He slammed the ball into the Grimm's armor covered face, right in between it's multiple eyes, and allowed the ball to shoot from his hands like a cannon. The ground before him was atomized by the attack, it's size growing to the point that it completely swallowed the Deathstalker, and for a moment everything went red.

(Now)

"Holy shit," was all Yang could say, watching as Naruto stood up straight before turning back to look at her.

Their eyes met once more before Naruto's aura suddenly flashed, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he collapsed onto the ground with a dull thud.

"Naruto!"

* * *

Far away from Beacon Academy, in a land ruled by Grimm and shadows, the queen herself sat upon her ebony throne with an all too pleased smile on her face. Her already glowing red eyes flashed with power and seemed to refocus themselves, but she was no longer looking at her throne room. No, her mind had reached out to an already ancient Nevermore many thousands of miles away after her connection to a long buried Deathstalker had been abruptly destroyed. Despite what most believed, a Grimm did not truly die after its body was turned to little more than ash and smoke. The very essence of her wonderful creatures instead returned to her to be reformed at a later date. There had only ever been to individuals with the kind of power to actually destroy her creatures in their entirety.

"Aw, it seems you don't have quite the control I thought you did, over that power of yours," Salem purred as she forced the Nevermore to ignore its baser instincts and remain away from the hunters in training, instead making it watch as the blonde haired daughter of Raven ran towards her unknown brother.

"Don't worry, unlike Ozma, I'll show you the truth once we finally meet. So rest for now, little bandit prince, you've quite the journey ahead of you."

* * *

Raven watched from the shadows of the nearby ruined temple, one that was suspended over a massive gorge, as a truly heartwarming sight happened before her eyes. Her son had become so strong since the last time she'd seen him, his control over his destructive semblance was something she'd always feared he'd never achieve, and he'd used that new found power to protect his family.

She'd seen the way he interacted with Yang since they met in the forest, which was about the same time that Raven herself had managed to get to Beacon from Patch. If she'd known Naruto's objective was to get into Beacon then she would have just teleported to Yang herself, but it didn't really matter at this point. Although overhearing them flirting was a bit strange, she just figured to each their own.

"You also take after mama's temper," Raven said with a smirk, feeling a little proud of her daughter when she threatened that Weiss girl for yelling at her sister, "I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you, but I couldn't let Ozpin turn your brother into another weapon like Qrow."

Speaking of her traitor of a brother, the sound of someone landing next to her was a bit annoying. This was naturally followed by the smell of a drunk homeless person that very much needed a bath. Honestly, their mother should have beaten him more.

"I'm surprised to see you here," by all the gods in existence, he even sounded drunk.

"What, can't a mother check in on her child from time to time?" best to keep up the lie she told him about Naruto being dead, less he report to the one holding his leash.

"Normally I'd say no, but well you're you," Qrow wasn't wrong, she wasn't exactly mother of the year when it came to Yang, which was something she'd need to fix if she wanted to make her family whole again.

"Don't you have a master to go lick the boots of? I'm sure he's missing his loyal dog right about now," ok, so she was a bit defensive.

"Love you to, sis, but we've actually got a bit of a problem," Qrow nodded in the direction of the massive Nevermore just watching the hunters from high above them, it's eyes glowing bright red.

"Why would that witch be interested in the latest batch of Ozpin's child soldiers?" it stung a bit to refer to her two children so coldly, but appearances must be maintained.

"Does it really matter?"

"No, no I guess it doesn't," Raven shook her head before glancing at her little brother, "Shall we?"

"Aw, some old fashioned Branwen family bonding," Qrow just grinned, the same type of mocking grin Naruto had, "I thought you'd never ask.

Two birds took off into the sky; the Nevermore never knew what hit it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The school nurse had been watching over him almost since the moment her little wolf had been brought into the infirmary, by his two new partners because apparently that was a thing now, and Raven was quickly growing irritated with the woman. The bandit queen had half a mind to just knock the nurse out, lock her in a closet, and actually be able to check up on the son she hadn't seen in practically and entire year. Yet she pulled in that legendary Branwen temper, which apparently her daughter had inherited, and let the middle-aged woman actually go about doing her job. Besides, Raven had spotted no less than five cameras hidden throughout the room and it would already be bad enough once Qrow tells Ozpin she stopped by. Plus, with the information she managed to squeeze out of her drunk little brother, her little wolf had apparently changed his name and fabricated false records just to get into Beacon. He was on a job, there was no doubt about that, but just what kind would be hard to figure out. After all, there weren't many people with the balls to send someone into Ozpin's lair and create such a detailed background for their infiltrator.

Of course she told Qrow she was just making sure her daughter's new teammates weren't weak. The Belladonna girl was apparently ex-White Fang so she at least had some combat experience, and the drunk bought into it so easily. Like Raven would have to worry about her daughter at this point, even with Taiyang's rather lax training, she taught Naruto well enough that he would protect anyone that was on his side. Although the question still remained as to if Naruto would remain on Yang and Blake's side once his mission came to a head. Raven knew what she had to do to insure her children didn't come to blows...but not just yet. She still had some time left.

"Ugh, my head." Raven's eyes shot over to her son, knocking her out of her scheming daydream, to find he was _finally_ waking up.

"Oh, you're awake." Raven rolled her eyes at the nurse stating the obvious, "I'll inform the headmaster."

Raven scoffed, this woman wasn't even making sure her charge wasn't in any pain! Honestly had the standards dropped that low since her own time at this prison of a school? Although she knew Naruto could fight through just about any amount of pain, that wasn't the fucking point!

"Oh look, a raven." Naruto suddenly said, looking right up at his mother hidden up on one of the stone trusses, in her bird form.

So he spotted, or at least suspected, the cameras hidden throughout the room and was playing it safe. She squaked a bit and gave a cheeky wave of her wing down at her little wolf, although it looked like he was turning into a big bad wolf now. Naruto just smiled softly before going back to staring at the door, making it look like he was just waiting for Ozpin to show up.

While waiting, Naruto also took the time to inspect himself for any injuries he may have gotten after passing out. He could only assume one of the others, most likely Yang, had carried him out of the Emerald Forest and to safety. Now the only real questions were who are his teammates and who was his partner? The choices were clearly between Yang and that Blake girl, or it could be that they got paired together seeing as Naruto had been passed at the time.

Naruto thought back to how he acted when that Deathstalker was about to kill Ruby, especially the way he just charge forward without a second thought, he didn't even have a plan at the time! Sure his sword was sharp, he did take care of it every single day, but there was no way he would've been able to cut through its heavy armor with just the blade alone. Then there was that voice that spoke to him, a voice he hadn't heard since leaving the Branwen tribe, and that the voice somehow had control over his very actions. At least enough control to make him move faster than he thought he could call upon his semblance without him knowing. It was a mystery to be sure and one that he intended to find the answers to.

"Ah, it's good to see you're awake, Mr. Uzumaki." came the aged and distant voice of Ozpin as he walked through the infirmary doors with four other individuals, three of which she already knew.

"Well what can I say, I guess I just don't know how to stay down." Naruto joked in a sarcastic manner, giving the headmaster a sheepish grin while scratching the back of his head.

"That's putting it lightly." said Yang, one of the people that had walked in with Ozpin, while Blake, Pyrrha, and an unknown blonde walked up to one side of his bed.

"Awe, were you worried about me?" Naruto asked in a teasing manner.

"What how am I supposed rewards you, for saving my little sister, if you died or something?"

"What kind of reward we talking about?" Naruto wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, which ended up making Pyrrha, of all people blush.

Raven, on the other hand, was torn between being mildly disturbed at how the unknown siblings were practically eye hump in each other and comparing it to those books that she used to swipe from Summer back when they both went to Beacon. Those were the days, before everything went to shit.

"Are you guys going to be like this the whole time?" Blake asked, her cheeks mildly flushed.

"Oh don't be jealous." Yang grinned as she wrapped her arm over Blake's shoulder, "We can always just make it a Blake sandwich."

"As fascinating as this conversation is." Ozpin cut in, reminding everyone that he was also in the room and they were talking about sex, on school grounds, in front of the headmaster himself, "I believe we have other matters to discuss."

"Thank the gods." the unknown blonde male, who Naruto could've sworn he'd seen somewhere, sighed in gratitude.

"Right, sorry?" The funny thing about it was that Yang didn't sound sorry at all, even when she mirrored the way Naruto nervously scratch the back of his head.

"So what's the news and who were these two?" Naruto already knew who Pyrrha was, but decided to play it safe just to be sure.

"The news, as you put it, is that the five of you are in a very interesting situation. The fact of the matter is that there has never been a situation where three people have made eye contact at the exact same time. So I've been left with one of two options, which I decided to let you all choose amongst yourselves." Ozpin explained, resting both his hands atop his cane while he made direct eye contact with Naruto.

"And what are our two choices?" Naruto asked, his eyes sharpening at Ozpin's challenging gaze.

"Your first option is that you remain a five-man team, but will be expected to meet a higher criteria than your fellow classmates. Your individual test will have more questions on them, your combat analysis will have a higher bar set, and the teachers will generally expect more out of you." said the headmaster, his eyes never breaking away from Naruto's despite noticing how the other four people in the room seemed to deflate slightly.

"And the other option?" this time it was Blake that asked, a slight hiss behind her words.

"Your other option, Ms. Belladonna, is that one of you volunteers to leave the school and wait until next year for re-enrollment."

The other is noticeably stiffened at that, with none of them wanting to volunteer to wait another year. Naruto felt his legendary Branwen temper spike ever so slightly, but he held it back. Something was off about this. There was no way a situation such as theirs hadn't happened before. Or a situation where there was an extra student and no teams available.

"Then there's no real choice here." Naruto said as he got up out of his bed and stood next to his new teammates, "We've all worked too hard, in our own ways, to get into Beacon Academy. We fought tooth and nail through the Emerald Forest, we got your stupid relics, so I say bring it on. The more you throw at us, the stronger we're gonna get."

The infirmary was silent after that, even Raven was a bit stunned at how bold her son was, and after a few moments of awkwardness Ozpin actually started clapping. The other four looked at each other, not really sure what was going on, but Naruto just sent the old man a confident grin.

"Well said, Mr. Uzumaki, well said indeed."

"So does that mean you'll tell us what you're really playing at here?" Naruto asked, getting a smile and nod from the headmaster.

"I'm so confused here." the blonde male said, looking slightly paler than he had a moment ago.

"This wasn't about seeing which one of us would choose to leave Beacon Academy. The headmaster here was testing our character. If we all chose to stay together then that would mean that we had a strong sense of loyalty and wouldn't abandon one another when things got tough. If one of us chose to give up our chance of becoming a hunter, then that would show him that we were willing to make a hard decision for others sake." Naruto explained what he had figured out.

"You are half right, Mr. Uzumaki. The other reason I asked such questions was to see which one of you would speak out about it the loudest. Which one of you had the courage to stand up to me, to choose for everyone else the best course of action. Essentially, I was seeing which one of you would make the best leader for this most unorthodox team," the reactions he got were rather priceless.

"No way." Yang looked a little dumbfounded, "Man, you really had me going there."

"Tell me about it." the other three said as one, all looking relieved.

"So I guess congratulations are in order." Ozpin said, turning his gaze back to Naruto, "For becoming the first leader of a five-man squad."

Naruto just grinned he was finally on the inside.

* * *

As it would turn out, trying to fit a five-man team into a room that can only fit maybe four people wasn't the best idea. Not only did they have to bring another bed out of storage, which was all the way down in the basement, but they also had to find some way to fit all their belongings. On the plus side, they did wind up in a room across from Yang's little sister and her team, a team named RWNR. So they ended up copying Ruby's idea and just making bunk beds, with the extra bed simply being shoved into the corner. Although, unlike Ruby's team, their bunk beds were actually structurally sound and didn't look like they were about to fall over at a moments notice.

This just left setting up all their personal belongings, which out of all of them Naruto had the least amount. Blake was given all four of the bookshelves, not to mention she also took the bottom bunk to put the rest of her books underneath it. Yang pretty much claimed half the bathroom with all of her hair products. Pyrrha managed to limit herself only one dresser and a stand for her weapons and armor. Jaune, who was the other blonde male that Naruto barely recognized, was forced to stuff all of his comic books into his own dresser and stored his weapons under his bed. Then there was Naruto, who called dibs on the single bed since he was the team leader, and all he really did was claim a single dresser and leaned the majority of his weapons up against the wall.

"You think they would have given us bigger rooms." Blake commented as she sat casually on her bed with an open book in hand.

"I know right, it's not like they have a giant school with plenty of room." Yang said sarcastically, rolling her lilac eyes.

"I'm sure they gave us the best that they had." Pyrrha tried to defend the staff, although honestly she would've preferred a larger room as well, "It's not that bad."

"Yeah, we could've waited until tomorrow to unpack, right before class started." Naruto pointed out as he said on his own bed, sword resting on his lap, with a cloth running over the blade.

"Man that would've sucked, we would've been so late!" now that Yang thought about it, didn't Ruby and her team pretty much go right to bed after the exam?

"I'm sure we would've been fine." said Jaune as he laid down on his bottom bunk, reading one of his many comic books.

"Better safe than sorry," Naruto shrugged his shoulders before looking over at Yang and Blake, "So what happened after I passed out?"

The blonde and black haired girl looked at each other before turning back to face Naruto, "Not much really."

"That sounded so convincing." Naruto said with a flat look, clearly not believing his two partners.

"Well Yang carried you back." Blake began.

"We got attacked by more Beowolfs." Yang continued.

"Jaune got carried away by a bunch of Nevermores."

"Pyrrha had to save him, twice." Jaune further hit his face behind his comic book at that.

"And we fought our way back to the cliff." the two finish at the same time, glancing at each other again.

Naruto knew they were clearly leaving out relevant details, whether out of embarrassment or shame, but decided not to press the matter. They were still a new team after all, he was the team leader, and they'd eventually have to learn how to trust one another. The best way to earn someone's trust is to go in the battle with them. Maybe that's what they should do, to further learn how they all fight together. He knows that Yang likes to do early morning workouts, so maybe he could convince them all to do some early morning training before classes start. Plus he had no idea how Jaune fought.

"Right, if that's all that happened."

"On another note, there's still the matter of your reward for saving my little sister." Yang instantly switched back into her flirtatious mode, which drew Naruto's attention.

Her carefree attitude, the way she had no qualms about flirting with someone she barely knew, and a few other smaller details led him to believe he was some kind of defense mechanism. A way for her to deflect questions or get out of a situation that she found uncomfortable.

"It's fine, Yang, I'm sure she would have done the same for me."

Yang just ignored him and skipped over to his bed, her hands clasped behind her back as she looked down at him with a grin. The other occupants of the room just looked at each other, unsure if they should leave or not.

"Oh shut up and take your reward." Yang suddenly bent down and kissed Naruto on his cheek, something that normally wouldn't have made her so flustered and yet it did anyways, "So thanks."

Naruto just paused in the act of polishing his blade, feeling his own cheeks heat up a bit, before looking up at Yang with an all too charming smile.

"You're welcome."

The rest of the newly formed team spent the rest of the day just hanging out together, talking about their pasts, what they did in school, and just getting to know one another. Blake and Jaune were a little vague with their stories, often glossing over details, but by the end of the day they were all just a little bit closer. It was only later that night, once everyone had finally fallen asleep, that Naruto's red eyes snapped open and he got up out of his bed.

(Outside)

Now standing on the ledge just outside his dorm room window, Naruto's gaze traveled up to the actual roof of the student dorms. It didn't take him long to scale up the side of the building, even without proper climbing equipment, and when he did reach the top he found someone familiar waiting for him. Raven had been meditating for the last hour or so, waiting for her son to eventually seek her out, and actually let a smile graced her features when she heard him approach.

"Hi mom." what else could Naruto say, he did leave in the middle of the night without even so much as a note and now suddenly his mom had found him.

Raven just got to her feet and gave him an appraising look, noting every single change that he had gone through since leaving, especially the new scars that she could see. She then walked closer to her son, who is now taller and had a build similar to his father; even if it was a bit leaner.

"You got taller." she grinned up at him.

"What can I say, I've been eating my greens?" Raven did her best not to snort at his lame excuse.

"I see you've also been getting into fights." Raven pointed out, tracing her hand along one of the scars on Naruto's arm, wondering what kind of Grimm gave it to him.

"I've been winning them to, just like he taught me." Naruto smirked mirrored Raven's own, but the elder Branwen frowned suddenly.

Without warning, Raven wrapped both her arms around her son's neck and pulled him down into a hug, which nearly sent Naruto off balance. Instead of pulling away, like any teenage boy would've done, Naruto instead returned the hug; he did miss her after all.

"I'm sorry for leaving." Naruto whispered, but Raven just shook her head.

"No you're not, you take after me."

Naruto pulled back and nodded his head, "You're right, I'm sorry for not keeping in touch."

"I know you are, but it's okay now," the mother and son stepped away from one another, "So what brings you all the way out here to Beacon? I'm pretty sure I taught you enough to wipe the floor with any of these children."

"I took some work as a mercenary not long after I left the tribe, mostly for source of income. My first job landed me in the middle of the desert for quite some time, but I made it out and there was someone else looking to hire me. Now here I am." Naruto explained, not knowing how much he should tell Raven and if she might disagree with his full job description.

"Someone hired you to infiltrate Beacon Academy? Have you met this person?" Raven knew she might be jumping to conclusions, but she didn't choose destroy her family to keep her son out of Ozpin's hands, just to have her him wind up in Salem's.

"Nope, it's all pretty shady, but the money is real."

"Do you even know if it was a man or a woman?" She knew Salem had minions of her own, but at least Raven would have someone to look out for.

"Sounds like an old man, one of those rich and sophisticated types. You know, the ones our tribe usually steals from." Naruto replied, getting a smile and a nod from Raven.

"I won't ask you what your job here is, if you're anything like me then you won't tell, but at least promise me you'll be careful." Raven couldn't bear the thought of losing her son, let alone in a game played by those two monsters.

"I promise you I'll handle it like a Branwen."

Raven just let out a hearty laugh, "Then the school won't be standing by the time you're done. I nearly brought down one of the smaller towers when your father made me upset one day."

"Oh, well I guess now I have to bring down the whole place." Naruto said sarcastically, his goal still being to become just as strong as his mom and become a worthy leader for the Branwen tribe.

"So, have any pretty girls caught your eye yet? You know they're gonna have to be strong if you want me to accept them," Raven teased.

"Well a girl did kiss me on the cheek a few hours ago, after I saved her little sister earlier today."

Raven's mind broke for a moment, her left eye twitching while she tried to remain smiling, "I...see."

"Mom?" Naruto asked since like concern.

"It's nothing, nothing at all, I just didn't expect you to take so much after your dad. The ladies like him a lot as well."

"So how's the tribe doing?" Naruto asked after slightly awkward silence.

Raven moved over and sat down on the edge of the building, motion for Naruto to join her, "Well we got a new member, a girl that had ran away from one of the academies. She is a bit of a mess right now but there's hope for her."

They spent the next few hours talking, mostly just catching up, before Raven decided she had best leave.

"I'll be sticking around Vale for a while, I've got some tribe business to attend to, so we can talk more later."

(Dash)

While Raven was having her reunion with her long lost son, another member of the Branwen family sat on the edge of another building not far away. Qrow knew he was right in trusting his gut; there was no way Raven would just randomly show up to see how Yang was doing. Hell, he doubted she even knew her daughter was going to Beacon to begin with. At first he thought she was planning something against Oz, it wouldn't be too out of character for her, but what he saw was even more dumbfounding!

"He's alive." Qrow whispered, shock evident on his face as he watched what played out before him, mentally kicking himself for not recognizing his best friends son the moment he saw him back in the Emerald Forest.

Qrow had his scroll out in a matter of seconds, Ozpin's number already set and ready to dial, but he paused just seconds before hitting the dial button. Raven had lied about her son's death, she'd lied to _him_ about it! No matter how much they may not see eye to eye on most things, Raven knew family was important to Qrow. Hell, he'd known about her being pregnant with Tai's kids long before the man himself! So why did she fake her own son's death just to make Qrow think he was gone?

Qrow glanced down at the image of Ozpin on his scroll and then back at the mother and son saying their goodbyes. He remembered when Naruto's semblance came roaring to life and the way Ozpin tried to get involved in the whole thing. He remembered how Raven and Tai fought like never before over what they should do, only for Raven to vanish later that night with their son. She lied to him because she knew Qrow would tell Ozpin, or Ozpin would ask Qrow to spy on the boy and report back to him.

"Dammit." Qrow cursed, taking a swig from his flask, "I need to find some damn answers."

Meanwhile, a small Nevermore flew above them all, it's eyes glowing like never before. They were approaching the endgame. After so many lifetimes, it was almost over.

* * *

**Man this one took me a minute to crank out. Let me know what you guys think about how the story is going so far. I think I'm doing an alright job but a third party's opinion never hurt.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Naruto awoke later that morning, after maybe four hours of sleep, to a smiling Yang, a still waking up Blake, Jaune putting on his uniform jacket, and Pyrrha walking out of the bathroom while trying to put her hair up her usual high ponytail. His clock was blurry, even after he narrowed his eyes to try and focus, but it was the ear piercing sound of a whistle that really woke Naruto up. Now finding himself looking up at Yang from the ground, her smile now very smug, Naruto's eyes narrowed at the gold whistle she was waving at him. Also, judging by the looks of his other teammates, they were no more impressed than their leader was.

The male Branwen slowly got to his feet, snatched the offending object out of Yang's hand, walked over to the open window, and threw it right out. He then walked back over to Yang and flicked her right on the forehead, getting a sharp yelp from his fellow blonde.

"No, bad Yang," Naruto chided, like she was a little puppy, but Yang just ate up their morning frustration with a big old smile on her face.

"Despite her...interesting methods, classes start in about an hour," Blake pointed out, seeming to be more irritated by Yang's little joke than any of the others; her bow twitched ever so slightly.

"Right," Naruto grunted as he walked over to his dresser and pulled out the uniform he was apparently meant to wear, only to scoff at what he saw.

The black suit jacket and pants were fine, even if the gold trim was a bit much, but there was no way he was gonna wear a tie. Not only did the color clash with the rest of the uniform, but also having something wrapped around his neck was a no go for Naruto. So after a quick shower, in which there was no hot water left, Naruto rejoined the others fully dressed, aside from the tie and him having the top three buttons of his shirt undone. Everyone was ready to go, even Yang and Jaune had all their books together, and that brought a smile to Naruto's face.

Yang spotted her team leader and couldn't help but admire the way he filled out his fancy looking uniform, "Well someone looks nice.

"Yes, the colors suit you," Pyrrha also gave her two cents, trying her best to interact with her new team despite how socially awkward she felt doing so; no doubt do to her time being a world renowned fighter at such a young age.

"Thanks I…" whatever Naruto was about to say was cut off by a shout from across the hall.

Poking their heads out into the hallway, Naruto and his team spotted team RWNR running like a pack of Grimm was hot on their heels. As one, the five-man team pulled out their respective scrolls, saw they still had twenty minutes before their first class, and wondered what was up with them. Then, not give seconds later, all the other new teams came rushing out into the hall with matching panicked expressions.

"Um, did we miss something?" Jaune asked as team NYBJP, which Naruto thought was a stupid way to name teams, filed out of their room.

"I don't think so?" Pyrrha sounded just as unsure as Jaune, she even did a cute tilt of her head that the blonde leader found just adorable.

"Hm," Naruto rubbed his chin in thought before shrugging his shoulders, "Let's head to class; we'll get more answers there."

It was fortunate that she school provided a map app for the students personal scrolls, namely to help them find their respective classes. Otherwise Naruto had a feeling he would have never made it to the first class, which was apparently taught by an elderly man named Peter Port. The overweight teacher honestly didn't impress Naruto. Even after just sitting down with his team, who decided to take up the second highest row, Naruto spotted several fake Grimm trophies mounted on the classroom walls and even the man's personal weapon. He resisted the urge to scoff, Raven made sure her son knew that a warrior never mounts their weapon in such a brazen manner!

"This guy is gonna teach us about the Grimm?" Yang didn't look impressed either, although she had already faced her fair share of the crazed monsters and no doubt found learning about them in a classroom to be boring.

"Professor Port was actually a famous huntsman back before he retired to teach here at Beacon," Pyrrha pointed out, her fingers typing away on her scroll before pulling up a thirty year old picture and showing it to the rest of her team.

Naruto, Jaune, Yang, and Blake couldn't believe what they were seeing; it wasn't possible! The man in the picture looked like a 5'8" Grimm killing machine, dressed in brown cargo pants, a white muscle shirt, dark brown boots, and black fingerless gloves. He had swept back black hair, a full beard, and held a massive double-sided ax in his right hand. Then, as if to top everything off, he had a Beowolf pinned to the ground with his foot alone!

While the others continued to gawk at the photo, Naruto glanced back to the overweight teacher in confusion. What could have turned a warrior like that into what everyone saw standing before them?

"Good morning future huntsmen and huntresses of Beacon Academy!" the professor shouted, waking up the few students that had already fallen asleep, "My name is Peter Port, retired huntsman, survivalist, and expert on all things Grimm! In this class I shall imprint upon you all my vast knowledge and many adventures! By the time you leave here, no Grimm will be able to stand in your way! Haha!"

The man's short little introduction was met by complete silence and students once again beginning to fall asleep. Most of Ruby's team, including the girl herself, looked bored out of their minds and would rather be almost anywhere else. Naruto was paying more attention to the diagrams posted up behind the teacher that listed the traits of various Grimm they would be facing; the rest of his own team were doing various things to keep themselves entertained.

"Hey," Naruto whispered, catching Blake's attention, "Think we can sneak out of here and not get caught?"

The bow wearing blackette seemed to actually consider his question for a moment, looking around for various escape routes and a way to distract the professor long enough for them all to get out without being caught. It was with a sad sigh that Blake just shook her head; she'd be able to escape just find but her fellow students would be left behind in this boring class.

Naruto just shook his head, this was gonna be a _long_ day.

As it turns out, Naruto was wrong in that regard, because not thirty minutes into the class and the professor was already asking for volunteers to face a Grimm. This had been preceded by a rather long, not to mention boring, story about Prof. Port's first time facing a Beowolf and every excruciating detail that came with it. It was during this time that one of the members of Ruby's team, Weiss he believed her name to be, began to grow slowly more and more aggravated with how the rest of her team was acting. Just watching the anger build up within her was more interesting to Naruto than the class had been, but it wasn't until Prof. Port asked for volunteers that it really came to a head.

"The moral of the story is that a huntsman must be honorable, a huntsman must be dependable, a huntsman must be strategic, well educated, and wise!" Prof. Port continued on and on, having many of the students nod their heads in agreement with his ideals, but Naruto just shook his head at the sheer absurdity of it, "So, who among yourselves believed yourselves the embodiment of these traits?"

Normally Naruto would just ignore the whole situation, but so much of this was little more than BS! A huntsman doesn't need honor to defeat Grimm and neither do they need education aside from knowing how to fight! Out in the wilds, where there are no massive cities to keep you safe from Grimm, the only thing that matters is strength and the will to act. So just before Weiss could stand up and declare that she believed herself to embody these traits, Naruto raised his hand.

"I'll give it a shot," Naruto said as he eyed the massive cage that no doubt contained a Grimm of some form.

Peter Port just smiled and motioned over to the cage, "Then step forward and face your opponent."

"Hey, shouldn't he be allowed to get his weapons and armor first?" asked Jaune, who didn't think it was right for his team leader to face a Grimm without at least having some form of protection.

"Quite right, Mr. Arc, quite right indeed. Mr. Uzumaki, you may retrieve your weapons and armor if you so wish," Prof. Port said, motioning towards the door the classroom, but Naruto just shook his head.

"I won't need them," this did get Naruto looks from everyone else, who finally woke up from their teacher induced naps, and couldn't believe that they were hearing.

Only those trained in hand-to-hand combat would be able to stand up to a Grimm like that, but even then those people tended to wield gauntlets or some other kind of device to shield their hands. Yet Naruto just walked down the few steps it took to get to where Port was waiting for him, with his hands stuffed into his pockets the entire time.

"Are you sure, it is not wise to let pride get in the way of your own self-preservation," there was something in the professor's eyes when he said that, almost like he was remembering some haunting moment in his past, but Naruto filed that away for a later date.

"I'm sure," was all Naruto said, moving to stand a few feet away from the cage, which was violently shaking by this point.

"You can do it whiskers!" Yang cheered, liking that her team leader was gutsy enough to go up against a Grimm with no armor or weapons.

"Be careful!" Pyrrha was a lot less happy about it, but was too nice to really voice her displeasure in front of everyone.

"Will be counting on you," Blake had somehow pulled out a small flag with their team's initials on it, showing her excitement without actually displaying it in her tone or facial expressions.

"Go leader!" and then there was Jaune, Naruto still had to figure out what his fighting style was and where he would fit into their new team.

The professor stood next to the cage, having taken his weapon off the wall, "Are you sure you don't wish to at least get your weapon?"

"I don't need one."

"Very well, let the match begin!" the lock was cleaved off the cage with a single swing of his ax, allowing a Boarbatusk to come charging out right at Naruto.

Everyone shouted at him to jump out of the way of the charging Grimm, even his own team, but Naruto just stood his ground and took his hands out of his pockets. Right when the creature got in range, Naruto use the Grimm's face as a springboard to leap over it, sending the Boarbatusk's face into the ground. Naruto landed in a small crouch before standing back up to his full height, watching as the Grimm shook its head around wildly before turning to glare at him.

"An impressive dodge!" the professor praised, "But how will you defeat it with no weapons?"

The Boarbatusk charged again, it's anger blinding into the threat that stood before it, and this time Naruto didn't jump over it. He still planted his foot on the creature's face, but this time he gripped its tusks with both hands and dug its face deeper into the ground. He twisted the creature until it had no choice but to flip onto its side, allowing Naruto to place his right foot against one tusk, while he gripped the other one with both his hands. The Grimm cried out in pain is Naruto begin to pull, which was followed by a sickening tearing sound as he ripped one of the tusks right out of the creature's face.

"This is the truth of the matter," Naruto said as he used the tusk in his one hand the stab the creature through one of its tiny legs and keep it pinned to the ground.

"Out there, beyond the safety of these walls, there are only two things that truly matter. It's not honor, it's not being dependable, nor strategic, nor educated, or even being wise!" Naruto said as he planted his foot down on the Boarbatusk's neck, and ripped off its other tusk.

"Mr. Uzumaki," Prof. Port tried to cut in, but Naruto wasn't done yet.

"The two things that matter out there, when you're faced with the possibility of a Grimm attack every single day, is power!" Naruto shoved the second tusk into the creatures unprotected bottom, killing it instantly, "And the will to act. If you lack either of these two traits, then you won't survive long enough to be praise for the ones that Prof. Port says you should have."

Naruto didn't say anything else as he climbed back up the steps to his seat, ignoring the looks almost everyone was giving him. If the students were to survive the real world, the one that they came to this Academy to learn how to survive in, then they couldn't let such a simple thing as honor hold them back. If they did, then they wouldn't survive, or someone they were close to would die.

"An interesting philosophy, Mr. Uzumaki," there was a slight bit of wariness in the old man's tone, "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings and stay vigilant. Class dismissed!"

Naruto was one of the first ones are the classroom, silently cursed himself for going off like that middle class will he was supposed to be undercover. Even his transcript said that he wasn't that skilled, yet there he goes killing a Grimm with his bare hands, and he did so in front of his entire year. Yet his silent cursing was interrupted by an argument-taking place just around the corner, between Ruby and her partner Weiss no less. Pausing just behind the corner, Naruto decided to listen in.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you!" Weiss shouted at her young team leader, stomping her foot on the ground in irritation, "You're supposed to be our leader, but all you've been so far is a nuisance!"

"What did I do?" Ruby tried to defend herself, but Weiss was on a rampage.

"That's just it, you've done nothing to earn your position! Ever since I met you, you've done nothing but act like a child! You nearly got me killed by leaving me behind in the forest, you left me hanging onto a Nevermore, and let's not forget how you've been this entire class!" the more Weiss shouted the more Ruby looked like she was going to break out into tears.

"Weiss…" she tried to cut in, but that just seemed to make the white themed girl angrier.

"I've trained and studied for almost my entire life! All you've done is mess around on some little island no one cares about! You should have never even come to Beacon and Ozpin never should have made you a team leader! He made a mistake!" Weiss continued to shout, getting more and more in Ruby's face, unaware of how the blackette was slowly balling her hand into a shaking fist.

"Like you're any help!" Ruby suddenly snapped, her gray eyes piercing into Weiss' very soul, "Maybe instead of complaining about what I do, you should help me get better! I'm new at this, I don't know what I'm doing half the time and you screaming at me isn't helping! I've trained ever since I was little to be like my mom, my mom who was a better huntress than I'll ever be, so don't think you're the only one that has any right to be here!"

Weiss stood there, more than a little stunned that Ruby actually snapped back at her; she's never had anything like this happen before. She was either the one being told what to do, in the case of her _father_, or she was the one telling people what to do. Now here stood a fifteen-year-old girl, who she just got done shouting at, and instead of submitting she challenged her!

Ruby turned around to storm away, feeling more than a little drained after letting all her bottled up emotions out, but found herself running into something surprisingly solid. Even when she was about to fall back after the sudden collision, a pair of strong hands grabbed her shoulders and kept her standing. She looked up and found Naruto, who she didn't expect to be standing there, smiling down at her.

"How's it going, little red?" Naruto pretended to have just turned the corner, "Princess? What's with all the shouting?"

"Weiss is being mean and shouting at me!"

"Only because you deserve it!"

"I do not!"

"Do to!"

"Meanie!"

"Child!"

"Don't call me that!"

"Then stop acting like one!"

Naruto just looked back and forth between the two arguing girls, wondering if either of them was ever actually disciplined growing up. This eventually led to Naruto moving in between them and lightly smacking them both on their heads. This stopped their argument cold.

"Ouch, that hurt!" Ruby and Weiss echoed, rubbing the backs of their heads, not even realizing that they actually just agreed on something.

"Are you two done?" Naruto asked, looking down at them with a raised eyebrow.

"But…!" Weiss tried to cut in.

"You don't deserve to be team leader, you haven't earned it," that shut the white haired girl down in a second before Naruto turned to Ruby, "And you've been chosen to be a team leader so you need to act like it."

"Like hell I haven't earned it!" maybe flaring her temper at Naruto would work better than it had on Ruby, after all he wasn't _her_ team leader, but hellfire eyes just narrowed at her.

"Really, ever since coming to Beacon what have you done to earn the title of being a leader? From what I've observed you like to lash out at your teammates when they don't do what you want, you are quick to anger in general, instead of helping your leader improve you seem to enjoy tearing her down. So tell me, how have you earned the right to lead anyone? In fact, I feel bad for any team you are assigned to lead with your current mindset," Naruto's berating reminded Weiss of her sister.

"And Ruby, I understand that you're new to being in charge of others, but you've been handed both a great opportunity and challenge. Being in charge of others mean that you must always be thinking about their wellbeing. Your strengths become their strengths and your shortcomings can also become their shortcomings. A leader must always being trying their best, both inside a boring classroom and out in the world fighting Grimm."

Both girls shared a glance, feeling more in trouble than they ever did with their own parents, and more than a little ashamed with how they were acting towards one another. Ruby may not remember her mom, but the stories Yang told her always involved her being kind to others and understanding. Even her dad said Summer Rose was the center of their team, being able to put up with all their antics with a smile on her face. Similarly, Weiss also knew that her big sister would be appalled at how inelegantly she was voicing her grievances to, what she would consider, a superior officer.

"But I have to be the leader, I have to be the best, I'm a Schnee," Weiss whispered, quoting the last thing her father said to her before she left for Beacon; it was over a scroll call too.

"Here, and out there against the Grimm, it doesn't matter if you are a Schnee, a Rose, or and Uzumaki. There are too many odds against us to worry about such things. So instead of trying to show you deserve to be a good leader, why not prove to everyone you're a good person?" this time Naruto just patted Weiss on her head, his gazing softening a bit.

"Weiss," Ruby cut in, nervously fiddling with her red cloak.

"Ruby?"

"I-I'm sorry for yelling at you," Ruby choked up a bit.

Weiss herself looked a bit surprised, no one ever apologized to her before, "I'm sorry for yelling at you to, and for saying you shouldn't have come here."

"Can...Can I see some of the notes you took?" Weiss smiled a bit and nodded her head.

While the two girls slowly began to deepen their friendship, with Naruto watching over them, another figure stood just a bit further down the hallway. Ozpin had been watching the interaction between the two girls, noting how they seemed to be at odds, and had planned to use this animosity to depart some advice upon the daughter of Summer Rose. Yet it would seem he'd been beaten to the punch, which wasn't troubling so much as a missed opportunity for the headmaster. He needed a silver-eyed warrior on his side; they were the only ones that could tip the scales of battle when it came to the Grimm and the Maidens.

"Hm, what's your game, Mr. Uzumaki."

* * *

There were two things that ran strong in the Branwen family; drinking and short tempers. Raven and Qrow's parents drank to make being leaders much easier, or at least take away some of the stress. Qrow drinks to forget how screwed up his life has become, ranging from the horrors he's seen to the friends he's lost. Raven, on the other hand, used to drink just to drown her misery away for a few hours before she was forced to face the cruel world once more; normally with a killer hangover.

That was actually how she ended up getting pregnant with Naruto and Yang, not that she would ever tell her two children they were unplanned. It had been after a rather long and difficult mission to the Grimm lands, a mission given to her team by Ozpin when she was still blind to his true personality. Summer had been thrilled, they'd been off active duty for about a month, and even Raven had to admit that she was a bit excited to stretch her legs a bit. Naturally that all changed when they were attacked by a pack of Sphinx with a monstrously large alpha Sphinx leading the charge against them! That had been the first time Raven had ever seen Summer panic, not to mention that Qrow had been swallowed whole by the alpha and somehow managed to cut his way out of the damn thing!

Needless to say, the moment it looked like one of her teammates had just died, Summer Rose officially lost her shit. Even after Qrow cut his way out of the beast, Summer just continued to go on a rampage the likes of which none of them had ever seen before. Her hunting spear was like a blur as it drilled through Grimm after Grimm and Summer ended up unleashing her silver eyes upon the few survivors! If the situation wasn't so dire, Raven probably would have been more turned on than she already was!

Naturally they all returned to Ozpin, gave their mission report, and got some much-needed rest. Of course the next day Raven and Qrow decided to go out drinking, Qrow was still a bit shaken after being swallowed alive, and surprisingly Taiyang and Summer decided to join them. Raven never laughed so hard after watching Summer drink alcohol for the first time; the white cloak-wearing girl practically fell out of her booth.

It was hours later when the crazy shit really started to happen; starting with Qrow daring Tai to hit on the waitress to get her number. As it turned out, the waitress turned out to be a guy and Tai got his revenge by throwing Qrow out the window. The next thing Raven remembered was standing outside the bar, Qrow and Tai wrestling around on the sidewalk like a bunch of boys, Summer clinging onto her, and the bar itself being engulfed in a big ball of fire.

"_You have really pretty hair,_" Summer had told her in a drunken haze, playing with Raven's hair as she had leaned up against her.

Two bars later, both of which somehow managed to remain standing, and all for members of team STRQ wound up in a hotel room with some cheap whisky. It's not what you think, not _yet_ anyway. Summer suggested they play truth or dare, which they only managed to convince Raven to do because she was already plastered, and that's when things started to get weird. Needless to say, Raven woke up the next morning completely naked, sore, with Summer drooling on her chest, Tai holding her from being, and Qrow somehow holding onto Summer while also halfway falling off the bed. The fact that Raven felt sore in _both_ spots made her shutter at the thought.

The rest of the team freaked out, got some hangover medication, managed to hunt down all their scattered clothes, and swore never to talk about that night again. Sadly that didn't stay true seeing as it apparently took only that one try to knock Raven up, Summer got away scot free because apparently she was smart enough to be on the pill, and she'd be lying if she said she hadn't been afraid her kids were somehow her brother's. Yet they came out as blond haired screaming pups, who both had a good set of lungs on them, and Raven never felt more complete than she had at that moment.

And that's how her drinking made her a family, for as long as it lasted anyway.

"You look depressed," Raven glanced up from her glass, scotch if her hazed mind remembered correctly, to find her brother sitting down next to her.

"At least now you're not alone in that regard," Raven shot back, draining the rest of her glass in a single shot and motioning for another, "So what do you want?"

"What, a brother can't check up on his sociopath of a sister from time to time?" Qrow grinned as he ordered the same thing Raven was drinking; they did have similar tastes after all.

"Your single, smell like a homeless guy, and are hanging out with your sister instead of hitting on a girl half your age. What do you think?" Even drunk she could still burn him; it was a gift.

"What're you still doing in Vale, don't you have a tribe of cutthroats and scumbags to look after?" Qrow knew he was poking the dragon, but it was the best way to get info out of his big sister.

"Maybe I'm keeping an eye on Yang, she is my daughter after all."

Qrow laughed at that, _laughed_ right in Raven's face, before going stone cold serious. Raven actually felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand right up on edge; she knew how deadly her little brother could really be in a fight, drunk or not.

"Keep an eye on your daughter, or your _son_," Qrow practically hissed the words, Raven's glass shattered in her hands as her as her deep red eyes suddenly pierced into her brother's.

"Careful, _little brother_, don't say anything _stupid_," while Raven put on an angry facade, mentally she was panicked; if Qrow knew then did that mean Ozpin knew as well?

Qrow tilted his head back and slowly finished the rest of his glass, pulled out his scroll, clicked on something, before turning the screen to show Raven. There the evidence was, a picture taken not twenty-four hours ago of Raven and Naruto sitting on the roof catching up. Raven's first instinct was to smash the scroll, followed by Qrow's face, but that wouldn't solve anything. Qrow was an idiot at a lot of things, but blackmail wasn't one of them.

"What, not gonna come up with some half-assed lie about how you thought he was dead and only recently found him? I'm a bit underwhelmed," Qrow taunted as he slipped the scroll back into his pocket, the tension now noticeably thicker.

"Does he know?" Raven growled out, her previously hazed mind now razor sharp.

"Who? Tai?" now he was just asking to be punched, but Raven held back.

"_Ozpin_, you simple minded _fuck_, the man who wanted to turn my son into his own personal weapon!" Raven shouted, slamming her hand onto the bar counter and drawing quite a bit of attention.

"Is that why you left, why you broke our hearts and left your daughter without a mom, because you thought Ozpin was going to weaponize a _baby_?" Qrow shot to his feet, getting right in Raven's face.

"_You_ weren't there that day! You didn't see the way he looked at my baby boy! It was the same way he used to look at Summer; you remember don't you?!" by this point everyone began to leave the bar, even the bartender.

"So your solution was to steal him away in the middle of the night and then tell me, your _brother_, that he had died at the hands of the Grimm. You showed me a goddamn grave, Raven, a small little grave with my nephew's name on it!" Qrow slammed his glass onto the ground, his frustration building.

"Because you would have run to your little master and told him where Naruto was!" Qrow snapped at that and grabbed Raven by the front of her outfit, picking her up and actually threw her into a table halfway across the bar.

"He was family, I wouldn't have said shit if you asked me to! I would have lied my ass off, told the old man I couldn't find you, but instead I only find out now when he's practically a grown man!"

"Well how was I supposed to trust you after you told him about our past?!" Raven roared back, picking up half the destroyed table and chucking it back at Qrow, who managed to dunk just in time.

"You self centered bitch!" Qrow charged at Raven, wanting to beat some sense into her with his bare hands.

"Traitor!" Raven shouted back, grappling Qrow and sending them both to the wooden flooring.

The elder Branwen siblings rolled around on the floor trying to overpower each other, much like they used to do back in their younger years. Qrow somehow managed to get Raven into a chokehold, only to get a solid elbow to the crotch in return. Raven tried to twist herself around and lay into her little brother with metal covered fists, but a solid punch to the jaw sent her sprawling backwards. More and more they fought, using chairs and tables as makeshift weapons, and eventually they both wound up toppling over the counter they'd originally been sitting at.

"Bitch!" Qrow growled as he managed to get to his feet and lay into Raven's side with a few strong kicks, only to be once again nailed right in his balls.

"Jackass!" this time it was Raven who stomped her little brother, only to get her foot caught a few seconds later and drug back to the ground.

"Fuck you!"

"Eat a dick!"

A glass bottle had slowly been shook to the very edge of the shelf it had been placed on, until it eventually fell off and hit Raven in the back of the head; followed by smacking Qrow right in the face. The two warring siblings groaned in pain as they slowly moved apart, with Raven sitting up against the counter while Qrow leaned up against the cabinets below the shelves. Sitting in between them was a large bottle of gin; both the siblings spotted it at the same time. Qrow managed to get to it first, trying to pry the lid off with his teeth but failed miserably.

"Give it here, pussy," Raven snatch the bottle away, hooked the cap in between the plates in his armor, and pulled it free.

Qrow went to take it back but Raven pressed it to her lips before he could and down a few gulps. Her face twisted in annoyance, followed by a few coughs, before she finally handed it to Qrow.

"Gah, that shit is disgusting," Raven spat, having never really liked the taste of the stuff in large amounts.

"Now who's the pussy?" Qrow handed her back the bottle.

"At least I'm meant to have one."

"Fuck you."

Silence soon enveloped the brother and sister once more, their anger mostly gone and instead was replaced by simple unease. They waited until the entire bottle was gone before speaking and it was Qrow who broke the ice.

"You really think I'd betray you guys for Ozpin?" Qrow asked, wondering if he had actually earned that kind of response from Raven.

"I don't know, I was scared at the time and didn't know who to trust, especially after me and Tai got into it later that night. He was all for having the bastard get involved. Do you really think I'm a self centered bitch?"

"Sometimes, yea, but not when it comes to your family," Qrow let out a tired sigh before he looked up to meet his sister's eyes, "I just wish I could have been apart of the kids life, or as much as my semblance allowed anyway."

"Our family is so fucked up."

"Your the one that had a foursome with your brother."

"Gah, how can you still bring that up?"

Qrow smirked and reached up above for another bottle, "Because, unlike you, I still don't remember a damn thing after getting back from that mission."

"Well lets hope my kids don't take after me then," Raven kicked the shelf and caught the bottle that fell off it, cracking it open the same time Qrow opened his.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Qrow asked as they clinked bottles, taking long swings respectively.

"I'm saying Yang kissed Naruto on the cheek and it wasn't the brother sister kind of kiss either."

"Tai's gonna freak."

"Yep."

Qrow looked around a bit before an idea suddenly popped into his head, "Hey, wanna go mess with Glynda, like back in the old days?"

"My dear little brother," Raven grinned as she slowly got to her feet and held out her hand for Qrow, "I love your ideas."

The Branwen siblings stumbled out of the bar together, with Qrow's arm slung over Raven's shoulder as they walked. They wouldn't make it more than a few blocks away before passing out on a random roof. The hangovers they would experience would be legendary.

* * *

Naruto sat on his lone bed, leaning up against the headrest with his knee propped up and a textbook in his hands. The rest of the day had gone by rather boringly, aside from a few questions his teammates had about his life prior to Beacon and the way he acted in class. In the end it wound down to some more team bonding, discussing some early morning training ideas, and doing some boring homework.

"Hey, you still up?" Yang's voice broke Naruto's concentration, making him look up to find his partner shuffling herself over to him.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Naruto asked as he sat up a little straighter, only to watch as Yang flopped down next to him on his already small bed.

"Can't sleep, to cold," Yang shivered a bit as she sleepily moved closer to Naruto.

"It's almost ninety-five degrees in here," Naruto said with a flat look, having resorted to an orange tank top and sleeping shorts just to stay cool.

"Still cold."

"Then go snuggle up with Blake."

"Too lazy," Yang shot back, resting her head on Naruto's chest and finding herself strangely at ease doing so.

"She's one bunk below you," Naruto himself felt oddly relaxed.

"Naruto."

"Yea?"

"There's a smoking hot girl using you as a pillow, shut up."

"Whatever."

Naruto tossed his book onto the ground, leaned over to turn out his light, before properly laying down in his now occupied bed. The young Branwen was out just a few seconds later, pulling Yang closer as his mind slowly slipped away.

* * *

Glynda Goodwitch liked to think of herself as a morally good persona, which was why she felt so sick doing her current task. The cameras she'd ordered installed were now set up to her personal scroll and everything going on in Naruto Uzumaki's room was under her watchful gaze. Ozpin had given her strict instructions to only report anything that looked odd, mostly any evidence as to if Mr. Uzumaki was anything more than a simple new student.

Glynda sighed as she lay in her own bed, dressed in only a night shirt, and watched Ms. Xiao Long climb into bed with her team leader. She could bust them right now, seeing as it was against school policy for anyone to share a bed, but that would reveal the cameras.

"Well," Glynda bit her lower lip as she observed the two blondes, "They do look good together."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The next morning was interesting to say the least, especially when Naruto was woken up to the sound of soft giggling and a bright flash of light. Years of training was the only reason Naruto hadn't jumped out of his bed, grabbed one of his daggers, and driven it through the offenders necks. That and when he tried to get up he found a still sleeping Yang laying on top of him, her face pressed into the crock of his neck, sending not entirely unwelcome shivers through his body. It was also at this moment that he saw who had taken a picture of him; Pyrrha and Blake stood there, still in their pajamas, with scrolls in their hands. Unfortunately for them, Yang had also chosen that exact moment to leave the realm of dreams, in which she was very much enjoying herself, and realize what was going on.

Normally Yang would just straight up attack them in a fit of unholy rage, both for waking her up and for trying to get blackmail material of her and Naruto in the same bed, but maybe making them a bit flustered would be more fun. So, sitting up in a way so that she was straddling Naruto's lap, Yang stretched her arms above her head, pulling her night shirt up to reveal very well toned abs, and sent both girls a smoldering grin.

"Ready to take me up on that Blake sandwich?" between the look Yang was sending her, both blondes conforming to her secret kink of sexy blondes with abs, and Naruto's own smoldering gaze, Blake all but passed out right where she stood.

Pyrrha just stood there, her face slowly starting to match her vibrant red hair, and nearly let out a whimper when both blondes turned their gazes up her. It was like she was being stared down by a massive dragon and a hungry wolf, just waiting for a moment of weakness to go in for the kill. Her flinch was all the invitation they needed.

"What about you, I always heard redheads were a lot of fun," Yang said as she grabbed Pyrrha by the front of her shirt and pulled the girl in close, a little surprised when the infamous "Invincible Girl" didn't put up a fight.

"I-I-I-I," was all Pyrrha could get out.

"Think she's a screamer?" Naruto asked, sitting up and putting his arm around Yang's lower back, never taking his eyes off Pyrrha.

"Lets make her one."

And...Pyrrha passed out, landing right on top of Blake. Both blondes shared a glance, a little surprised that actually worked, before pulling out their scrolls at the same time. Revenge was a bitch after all.

"Wait, lets pose them first," Yang suggested.

"It's like you read my mind," Naruto agreed, an evil glint in both their eyes.

Jaune briefly woke up to the sight of his team leader and Yang posing Blake and Pyrrha together in the same bed. Deciding it was best not to get involved, he still remembered his sisters and how evil they could be, he wisely chose to go back to sleep. He was gonna need it after all; Naruto had informed them that they would be doing some early morning training before classes even started. Jaune, for the first time since coming to Beacon, wondered what it would have been like if he had been made leader instead. There certainly wouldn't be any early morning training, he liked his sleep too much.

An hour later and team RYBJP was making their way to the only training area open to students without needing a teacher present. It was little more than a large stone platform elevated four feet high, but it would more than do the job they needed it to do. Naruto and Blake were the first ones to enter the ring, the bow wearing girl still couldn't look her leader in the eye, but the moment Pyrrha started the match everything changed.

Jaune expected some taunting, maybe some cool attack to start off the match, he'd seen it plenty of times when reading his comics or watching tv. Yet both combatants just stood there staring at one another, with Naruto's one hand holding the sheath of his blade while the other lightly gripped the hilt and Blake with only her shorter blade in hand. Jaune glanced at Yang, expecting the adrenaline junky to complain about the lack of action, only to find her watching the two fighters without even so much as blinking. Pyrrha was much the same way, only there was a slight bit of anticipation in her eyes. Jaune just wanted to know what was going on!

Jaune blinked once and, in the time it took him to open his eyes, Naruto and Blake stood opposite to where they started out and had their backs turned. Another thing was Naruto had his katana drawn and held lazily at his side, but that couldn't be right. He must still be tired or something, there's no way _anyone_ could move that fast!

That's when Jaune saw it, the two katana wielding teammates blurred and the next thing he saw was them now locking blades! This time there was no long drawn out pause after their latest clash, their blades locked only for a split second before they both really went at it. Blake was more aggressive in her strikes, landing two quick blows against Naruto's blade due to her own blades shorter length. Naruto responded in kind by making a slash at her midsection, which Blake did manage to block just in time but it forced her back a few steps. His blade spun gracefully through the air, drawing Blake's gaze long enough for Naruto to get within striking range.

"HA!" Blake shouted, her katana suddenly switching into it's kama/gun form, and a close ranged fight suddenly turned into a ranged one.

Naruto actually had to bend as far back as he humanly could just to avoid the bladed weapon when it came flying right at his head, being used like a kusarigama thanks to Blakes strangely elastic and durable ribbon. Blake didn't give Naruto time to recover and yanked on the ribbon attached to Gambol Shroud, causing the weapon to fire as she spun it around in a wide ark, aimed right for Naruto's legs.

'Not bad,' Naruto thought as he flipped back onto one hand before landing back on his feet, a bit of a grin on his face, 'She's a clever little fighter and knows what her strengths. After not being able to keep up in close quarters, she switched to medium range where she had more room to move.'

Blake went to sling her weapon at Naruto again, this time he only managed to dodge thanks to turning his body just a bit to the side, but it's what happened next that no one saw coming. Instead of moving in for the kill, so to speak, Naruto actually dropped his katana while at the same time grabbing Gambol Shroud by its hilt. Blake suddenly found herself flying through the air thanks to a hard tug, the ribbon attached to Gambol Shroud being used against her, and was only saved by releasing her hold of the weapon.

Blake went to attack again, but Naruto raised his hand as a signal to stop.

"Not bad Blake, not bad at all, whoever taught you clearly knew how to play to your strengths," Naruto said, holding out her weapon, but noticed his her gaze shifted to the ground as if she was ashamed or something, "I think I understand you a bit better now."

"How?" the question itself was simple enough, but the answer was as difficult as explaining one's emotions.

"It's a bit hard for me to put into words, but basically I can tell what a person is feeling when I fight them. Not what their next move is, but more like who they are as a person. Like this criminal I fought before coming to Beacon; he gave off a mask of confidence but really he was deeply scared of something," Naruto explained, walking over to pick up his discarded weapon and sheath it once more.

"So what about with me?" Blake may have sounded as emotionless as ever, but Naruto saw a bit of nervousness in her yellow eyes.

Naruto just gave her a smile, "I'll tell you later. So who wants to be next?"

Yang was up on the stage before Pyrrha could even raise her hand.

"Don't worry," Yang smashed her gauntlet covered fists together, a mocking smile forming, "I'll be gentle."

"I'm sure," Naruto smiled back, "But remember, just like with Blake, I've seen you fight and have had a few days to figure out how to beat you.

Yang just continued to grin, letting Naruto subtle warning wash right over her, almost like she still believed she could power her way to the situation. Naruto kind of had to respect her tenacity, she set her mind to something and didn't let anything get in her way, but that could also be a dangerous mindset. So, moving to opposite sides of the ring while Blake jumped down next to the rest of her team, both combatants got ready. Yang slipped into her traditional boxing stance, both her fists raised and her feet spread apart, well Naruto did something none of them quite expected. Instead of pulling out one of his many weapons, of which there was no real shortage of them, the blonde Branwen instead slipped into his own hand-to-hand stance.

He didn't often go into fights without a weapon, he was primarily a swordsman and that's where the most of his strengths lie, but that didn't mean he hadn't been taught to fight without one. Raven actually insisted upon it. His feet were shoulder width apart and angled slightly to the right while his knees were slightly bent inward. His arms were raised up in a similar way to Yang's, except his hands weren't clenched into fists but were instead open and aligned with the center of his body. It was a looser stance, one that didn't dedicate him to throwing a punch as his opening attack.

"You're not to fight me with one of your weapons?" Yang actually lowered her guard as she looked at Naruto with uncertainty.

"It wouldn't serve any purpose, we wouldn't be able to measure our skills against each other if I use my sword or my spear. They both give me a certain amount of range that you don't possess with your gauntlets," Naruto explained before shooting Yang a taunting grin, "Besides, who wouldn't want to get it up close and personal as they could with you?"

"You tease!" Yang fired her gauntlets behind her, which ended up propelling her through the air and towards Naruto, her right fist raised to deliver a devastating attack.

Naruto didn't move from his spot, not even an inch, it was like watching a mouse stand before a dragon. Closer and closer Yang came, but it was at the last moment that Naruto acted. Just by shifting his feet a little bit to the side, Yang's punch glided past his chest, but that wasn't the end of it. Naruto's arm looped around Yang's extended one, his free hand found purchase around her throat, and one of his legs intertwined with hers. It was like watching art in motion, all the way up to the point that he slammed Yang into the ground.

Yang was dazed for a moment, her lilac eyes blinking around in confusion, until they focused and found one of Naruto's fists right in front of her face. She blinked a few more times just be sure that she wasn't seeing things.

"You charged in thinking you could overpower me, like you've done everything else that you've fought, and didn't even consider the fact that I'd be able to survive your first strike," Naruto said as he lowered his fist, stood back up, and held his hand out for Yang to take.

"You sound like my dad," Yang sighed as she took Naruto's hand and was lifted back up to her feet.

"Maybe this proves that he has a point?" Naruto pointed out as he backed up a few steps and took the same stance, "Again."

Yang took her own stance again, but this time she actually looked before she leapt. She knew her own strength well, hell she was punching holes in trees by the time she was Ruby's age, but from what she just learned, brute strength alone won't always work. So she would take it slow, feel out the way Naruto fought.

She approached him cautiously, slowly inching forward until her fists practically grazed his open palm, and then the strikes came like from a jackhammer. Yang might not be the fastest fighter out there, but being so close to her opponent it didn't really matter.

Right jab! Right jab! Left jab! Body shot! Low kick! Spinning back hand!

The blows continued to rain down upon Naruto like a never ending downpour, but that didn't mean they all got through. Naruto seem to have accounted for almost all of Yang's attacks and only really got hit by the initial right punch to the face. Also, the longer Yang fought him, the more Naruto was able to see the predictability of her strikes. She was an emotional fighter, no doubt about that. Her eyes were already turning red and some flames began to dance through her hair.

It was with one final punch, not to mention some built up frustration, that Yang accidentally released one of her concussive rounds. The round slammed right into Naruto's chest at the exact moment that her fist did, which actually lifted the blonde up off the ground by a few inches and sent him back more than a few feet! Everyone else looked worried, Yang look like she just crapped herself.

"Oh shit, are you all right?! I didn't mean to do that, please don't be dead!" Yang shouted as she ran over to a downed Naruto, who was just laying on his back of looking up at the ceiling, while the other members of his team jumped up onto the platform and ran over to him.

"I'm okay. I'm okay!" Naruto grimaced as he slowly sat up while holding his chest, his aura flickering slightly, feeling like he had just been hit by a train going full speed.

Yang still continued to fuss about him, and almost the exact same manner as she did to Ruby. She pulled his hand away from his chest and found a fist sized dent had been put into his armor with scorch marks branching out around it.

"We should take you to the nurse," Pyrrha suggested as she moved to one side of Naruto, looping his arm over her shoulder, while Yang did the same on his other side.

"I'm fine, I just need a moment to catch my breath," Naruto told them as he pulled himself off their shoulders and sat down on the edge of the ring, moving his hands to remove the chest piece of his armor.

"You really should go see the nurse," Blake pointed out, her brows knitting together in an actual concerned look, but Naruto just waved her off.

"My armor took the brunt of the damage and I don't feel any cracked or broken bones," Naruto said while feeling around his chest for any possible internal damage, but found none.

"I didn't mean to do that, I'm so sorry," Yang did feel bad, she didn't like hurting her friends let alone nearly putting a hole through their chest.

"My guess is, is that it was a reflexive attack. That's how you usually fight the Grimm; waiting until your strike lands and then firing one of your concussive rounds for maximum damage. To be honest, it was more so my fault for wanting to take you on in hand-to-hand," Naruto laughed a little bit at his own hubris, "I really let my pride get the better me this time."

"Well, you are about as annoying to fight is my dad," Yang softly, for her at least, punched Naruto on the shoulder as a sign of affection.

"Ouch, you're so mean to me."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Pyrrha asked, still looking concerned.

Naruto just nodded his head, "I'll be fine in a few minutes, this isn't the worst I've had."

"What do you mean?" Jaune asked, having never really ventured outside his family home and almost never getting into actual fights that weren't with his sisters.

"Well I got these from a Grimm when I was a kid," Naruto moved his spiky blond hair out of the way and pointed to the scar marks on his cheeks, which still resembled gruesome whisker marks.

"What possessed you to fight Grimm as a kid?" Blake asked, but Naruto just smirked and shook his head.

"I was actually watching my mom fight the Grimm, I even had a guardian with me at the time, and when she was done I ran out to greet her. I got maybe a few yards away when suddenly this massive shadow loomed over me and the next thing I knew was pain. I don't really remember what happened after that, only that my mom managed to kill it before it could kill me, and that not long after I asked her to start training me," Naruto actually smiled at the memory, he doubted he would be the person he was today if that hadn't happened.

"Your mom sounds awesome!" Yang shouted, having looked up to a strong woman all her life, not to mention her biological mother was supposed to be really strong herself.

"What other stories do you got?" His fellow male blonde asked.

"Well there was this one time I was fighting two Deathstalkers with a broken hand and a dislocated shoulder."

Naruto never did get around to fighting Pyrrha and Jaune, but in the long run that wasn't so bad. He told them a few stories about his time in the desert, obviously not saying what he was originally doing there or that he was even in the desert, but it was still kinda nice. Maybe this mission won't be so bad, but the real question is what happens when the missions over? What happens after he kills Ozpin?

* * *

By the time lunch rolled around, Naruto's chest was feeling a whole lot better, although his armor piece was pretty much scrap metal at this point. He could melt it down and re-forge it, or maybe even go out and buy some higher-quality metal, but before he could do either of those things Yang had swiped it from him.

Now he sat at his lunch table, his team sitting on one side while Ruby's sat on the other, enjoying the surprisingly well tasting food that the cafeteria served. Nora, the one Naruto really wasn't all that familiar with, was telling a rather over exaggerated story about a dream she's been having, at least according to Ren. It involves some Ursa, somehow selling their skin as rugs, and making some money off of it. Logically this would be a great idea, aside from the fact that Grimm vanish after they're killed and not many people would want to buy rugs made out of their hide.

"Hey, are you okay?" Blake asked, having noticed the way Naruto was absentmindedly playing with his food instead of eating at.

"Not all that hungry, especially after Nora's last story," Naruto thought he had heard and seen the most grotesque things on the planet, but Ruby's hammer wielding teammate had quickly proved him wrong.

"Please don't remind me," Blake shuddered, growing even paler than she already was.

Naruto was about to make a snarky remark, Yang's bad habits were quickly rubbing off on him, but the sound of someone crying out in pain quickly caught his attention. Years of honed instincts allowed Naruto to quickly scan the cafeteria for possible threats, noting everything from the students to the security cameras made to watch over the cafeteria itself. But it was Cardin Winchester that quickly caught his gaze and the poor girl he was terrorizing. The girl was actually pretty adorable, especially with those long bunny ears on top of her head, but at the moment her face contorted in pain.

"Atrocious," Pyrrha hissed, but made no move to get up from her seat and help the poor girl, "I can't stand people like him."

"You're not the only one," Blake practically hissed, the bow atop her head twitching again as if to display her aggravation, and yet not even she got up to help.

"It must be hard being a Faunus," not even Yang, the most overprotective one of them all, got up to help.

Naruto just looked amongst the people at his table, for the first time he felt a small bit of irritation towards all of them. They all said how they found such acts to be despicable and yet they did nothing to stop it. There were no less than nine well trained fighters at this table, including Naruto himself, and yet none of them got up. So, taking in a deep breath to cool his slowly boiling anger, Naruto suddenly put a smile on his face and began walking towards Cardin's table.

The closer he got the Cardin, the more attention he gained, but it was the look on the blonde's face that was the most shocking. The way he lidded his eyes, how his grin stretched into something truly unsightly, just screamed arrogance and superiority. If Yang didn't actually know him then she'd likely beat the shit out of him on principle alone. A lot of people thought he was another bully about to join in on bullying the poor rabbit eared girl and averted their gaze.

"Ha, I didn't know they allowed animals at this school!" Team NYBJP couldn't believe their ears, Blake looked more horrified than the others; not that they noticed.

Cardin seemed to finally take notice of Naruto's arrival, letting go of the bunny eared girl he and his team had been tormenting, and gave the blonde a similarly smug look. The bunny girl in question seemed to look down in shame, the tray in her hands shaking.

"I know what you mean, this place smells like a zoo. I'm Cardin Winchester, of the noble house Winchester, it's nice to meet someone else that recognizes these animals for what they are," Cardin said, standing up and holding out his hand for Naruto to shake, but the young Branwen just glided past him.

To everyone that thought Naruto was just another bully, their jaws hit the ground when he put his arm over the bunny girl and pulled her into his side. Said bunny girl actually looked up at Naruto with her own fair share of surprise, not to mention the way her cheeks turned a light pink. Only her family and teammates would hold her so close.

"I was talking about you four _dogs_, picking on such a cute girl, especially pulling on these adorable ears," Naruto's mask of arrogance instantly shifted into a condescending one as he lifted his hand from the girl's shoulder to lightly scratch the base of her ears.

Her right foot began to bounce up and down as he did so.

"What did you say?!" Cardin shouted, but Naruto just scoffed.

"You're hard of hearing too? Man, no wonder you have to flirt with a girl like a little kid. What's next, you gonna pour sand in her hair?" Naruto asked with a drawl, rolling his eyes in a manner that would make any Branwen proud, "I know what it is, your balls never dropped and you have a baby dick. So the only way you can get it up is by acting like a bitch."

The entire cafeteria was dead silent now, aside from Yang having to bite her knuckles to not fall on the ground laughing. Cardin, on the other hand, looked like he was about to explode, prompting Naruto to move the bunny girl behind him.

"Say one more word, I dare you," Cardin threatened, trying to make himself as big and threatening as possible; Naruto thought he just look constipated.

Naruto leaned in close so only the douchebag himself could hear, "Like. A. Bitch."

'And three, two, one.' Naruto thought, grin still present, just seconds before Cardin's fist slammed into his jaw.

Naruto had to admit, that punch had some force behind it, if the fact that he was actually a little dazed was anything to go by. Yet the facts still remained, Cardin struck _first_ and anything from Naruto was self defense now.

"I'll break your stupid face!" another punch came Naruto's way, but this time the ending would be different.

Naruto caught Cardin's fist in his right hand, with seemingly little effort on his part, before dropping the taller teen to his knees with a swift kick to the balls; a kick that lifted him off the ground by a few inches. He then moved around the teen, twisting his arm behind his back and forcing him to practically bow to the bunny girl.

"Apologize," Naruto ordered.

"Go to AAARRG!" his arm was twisted to the point of almost being dislocated.

"I'll break it," Naruto commented lightly as he pinned Cardin's teammates with a soul scorching glare, "Don't think I won't."

"I'm..._sorry_," Cardin practically whispered, only to yelp when Naruto twisted his arm even more.

"So she can hear you, dumbass."

"I'm sorry! For fuck sake, let me go!" and like that he was released, able to fall back onto the ground as he clutched his family jewels tenderly.

As Cardin limped out of the lunch room, followed closely by his wannabe team, Naruto walked back over to the bunny girl. Now that he actually took a moment to look at her, Naruto just couldn't understand why anybody would want to pick on her. With her long brown hair reaching all the way down to her thighs, and innocent big brown eyes, the rabbit ears atop her head were like icing on the cake.

"Are you all right?" Naruto asked, his red eyes glancing up at the tips of her ears that Cardin had been pulling on, "I hope that moron didn't hurt you."

"I'm okay," she said, glancing away from him, her right ear twitching a bit while her face grimaced.

"Come on, you should go see the school nurse, just to make sure he didn't do any permanent damage. Besides, it wouldn't sit well with me if I left a pretty girl while she was in pain," Naruto said, holding out his hand for her to take.

The bunny girl seemed to mull over his words before slowly reaching out and taking his hand, getting a smile so charming that it should be illegal. Naruto led her out of the lunch room a moment later, ignoring the looks he was getting from his fellow begin students and his teammates. It was a little sad that they found such a site to be so surprising, but he couldn't find it in himself to care.

"Velvet, my names Velvet," the bunny girl whispered, her accent really was something else.

"Nice to meet you, I am Naruto."

* * *

Naruto decided to skip the last two classes of the day, he wasn't really all that concerned about his attendance record, and managed to sneak off school grounds. One transport ship later in Naruto was back in Vale, the city obviously, wandering around the many storefronts with no real goal in mind. Walking into a weapon shop, Naruto began browsing around the many basic weapons afforded to the public. There were rifles, swords, knives, and even bows, all of which Naruto was completely able to use. He'd need a type of weapon that people wouldn't be able to trace back to him, or at least wouldn't suspect him of using.

"I'd go with the bow," a voice suddenly said from behind him.

Turning his head ever so slightly, Naruto was greeted by the sight of Cinder, still dressed in her rather alluring dress. She honestly was the poster girl for a seductress, or maybe Naruto was just reading too much into it. Still, she wouldn't approach him for no reason and that could only mean she'd been following him since he got into the city.

"You now, if you wanted to talk then you could've just called," Naruto said as he lifted the bow off the rack and begin examining it with a critical eye; a badly crafted weapon was as much a danger to himself as it was to his enemies.

"You never know who's listening in, besides maybe I wanted to see you," Cinder laughed softly as she moved to stand next to him, her glass heels clicking against the floor.

"Well I don't have much time, the less transport back to Beacon leaves in a few hours and the next one won't start till early in the morning. So what do you want?" Naruto inquired, pulling the bowstring to test its draw weight and see if it was what he was comfortable with.

"Tell me something, do you recognize this man?" Cinder asked, pulling out her scroll and showing Naruto a picture of an orange haired man with a black bowler hat.

"You could say so, I fought him my first night here. He was good, I was better."

"Roman Torchwick is an associate of ours, one that we use to control the criminal element in the city. He's currently about to be transported to a maximum security prison deep in the countryside. I need you to break him out so he can get back to work," the blackette explained, placing her hand on Naruto shoulder and leaning closer she can whisper into his ear, "I'll make it worth your while."

"I was hired to steal an artifact from beacon. I don't like changing the deal," Naruto said, noting the way that Cinder's eyes narrowed and her smirk fell just a bit; she didn't like to be denied.

"I..."

"But I'll do it," Naruto cut her off, sending her his own look, "After all, you'll make it worth my while."

"I've already sent all the information to your scroll, you have two hours before his transport takes off. Good luck," she lifted herself up and gently pressed her lips against Naruto's scarred cheek, leaving behind slightly reddish skin when she pulled back.

If Cinder had stay just a moment longer, then she would've seen a bubble of sickly red energy wash over her little going away present and leave Naruto's skin just as clear as it had been before. A few moments later and Naruto walked out of the store with a large case resting over his shoulders, and a pure white face mask clutched in his left hand.

It was time to get to work.

Meanwhile, perched atop a nearby rooftop, Cinder stood with two more individuals behind her.

"We could've handled busting that guy out of there," the male one said.

"I'm sure, but this will give us a better look at his capabilities."

"I don't trust him," the female one said.

"He's a mercenary, you'd be a fool to trust him, but he has his uses," Cinder's words may have been cold, but her yellow eyes glowed with desire for power that Naruto held within him.

* * *

The VPD (Vale Police Department) building was a massive fortris designed to keep law and order within both the main city and smaller settlements that lined the nearby areas. It had massive stone walls, guard towers, automated defences, and security cameras lining almost every square inch of the place. There had been twenty-nine escape attempts since its founding, only three of those attempts ended with the criminal getting away alive. Now many may be wondering why a police department was built like a prison. The answer to this is simple. It's because it is a prison.

This prison is for the more common criminals, those without connections in high places or enough money to buy their way out, and this was the very reason Roman Torchwick was being transferred to a more secure location pending his trial. His reputation wasn't unfounded after all and the police knew they wouldn't get another chance to keep the man behind bars, so security was tighter than a Shnee's ass; or so the Faunus liked to say. It's such a shame that this would be known as the fourth successful escape.

Naruto stood on one of the many rooms just outside the complex, now wearing a zipped up hooded jacket they stole from a street thug, with his newly acquired bowl held in his left hand and his mask held in his right. His red eyes scanned over the guard patrols, noting subtle changes to their patterns, what guard would stop to talk with their buddies, and any other irregularities. When two guards stepped into the shadows to take a quick smoke break, Naruto knew his window was open. So he slipped on his mask, drew one of the arrows from the quiver on his back, took aim at the guard tower, and fired. Trailing from the end of the arrow was a thin, yet incredibly durable, rope. The arrow dug deep into the concrete and Naruto began his infiltration.

"So, I heard your little sister was trying out for Beacon Academy, did she make it in?" One of the guards asked his buddy, lighting his cigarette before handing the lighter over to his fellow guard, completely unaware of the figure they just passed overhead.

Naruto landed on the middle catwalk as silently as he could, which was apparently quite enough because no guards came running, and a swift swing of his knife cut the rope he just came in on. Making sure to keep low, Naruto moved along the catwalk until he came upon an entrance into the department, one with a camera monitoring it. Another arrow quickly solve that problem, but it also meant that eventually someone would notice; he have to move quickly. The door itself wasn't much of a problem, everyone in the Branwen tribe knew how to pick a lock, but the three security guards on the other side made up for it. Naruto is on them in a matter of seconds, moving to knock them out instead of kill them, which is easier said than done. The first one was taken by surprise, having Naruto's entire body slam him into the wall and effectively knock him out. The other one went for his stun baton and even managed to get it out, but quickly found the electrified end twisted around and press right into his own chest. The last one actually went for his gun, even managing to get off a few rounds, but that all changed when one of Naruto's arrows tore through the barrel and ripped it right out of his hand. He was then put into a sleeper hold and everything went black a few moments later.

After swiping the security badge from one of the guards, Naruto was able to move deeper into the compound and this time he made sure to stick to the shadows. Water pipes running along the high ceiling, air ducts and wide open areas, and even a few heavy-duty lights hanging from the ceiling allowed him to avoid detection.

Eventually he overheard some guards talking about a high-priority prisoner being taken out to the landing pad ahead of schedule, to throw off any possible escape attempts or breakouts. Naruto cursed at this, he would have any more time for subtlety. Instead of sneaking his way up there, Naruto practically bulldozed his way, leaving more than a few guards with broken bones and dislocated joints. Still, they would live.

The landing pad was lined with high fences on both sides and a narrow path leading from the door all the way out to where the transport sat. Being led there, surrounded by two dozen men and at least five sharpshooters, stood Roman Torchwick dressed in a yellow jumpsuit. Naruto slid down into a kneeling position, an arrow already knocked into his bow, and fired it into the close is guards leg. In the time it took for the first guard to fall, Naruto had already released at least four more arrows with each of them hitting their mark.

"Freeze, drop your weapon!" One of the guards yelled as he and the others turned to engage Naruto while two stayed back with Roman.

Naruto said nothing as he drew another arrow, although this one had a strange red tint to it, and when he fired it was aimed at the ground. An explosion rocked the area, throwing up a cloud of dust that hid everyone from the sharpshooters, and this was exactly what Naruto wanted. He dove into the cloud of smoke and began taking apart the guards with practiced ease, showing far more skill now than he had when he was fighting against Yang. Mostly because he didn't think dislocating his teammates shoulder would've made a great first impression to his training methods.

When the smoke began to clear, Naruto prepared to take care of the sharpshooters next, they would be difficult but not impossible. However, just when he had a clear site on where they should be, Naruto found they were already on the ground. He then turned to look where Roman was and found an odd site. Standing in front of the man was a young girl.

The girl looked to be about Yang's age, although that's where the similarities ended. She had an odd coloration of hair, being brown, pink, and white all mixed together. Her eyes were also two different colors, but that was by far the least strange thing about her. Her outfit consists of a white tailed jacket with a pink interior and one white broad tail, brown pants, black gloves, and black-and-white boots with very high heels. Under her jacket she were brown corset, a bit old-fashioned but who was Naruto to judge, exposing her hips. She also had multiple necklaces hanging around her neck. Yet the cherry on top was the parasail she held in her hand, seeing as it had a blade coming out the end of it.

"Bravo," Roman said, clapping his now freed hands, "What a wonderful show, I dare say it almost brought me to tears."

"A mutual friend of ours asked me to break you out here, but I get the feeling that wasn't necessary," Naruto said, glancing at the strange girl who just smiled and winked at him.

"My dear Neo always has my back, but the real question is who are you? I don't recall you being one of that woman's friends, I certainly would've remembered someone is interesting as you," Roman said as alarms began to blare, catching everyone's attention.

"Perhaps questions can wait to were out of here, unless you really did want to go to jail?" Naruto asked, tilting his head ever so slightly.

"Well, my dark mysterious new friend, you may have a point there. Neo, if you'd be so kind as to drive."

Neo just smiled and nodded before literally skipping over to the transport, because apparently they were now going to steal from the police as well. Naruto wasn't going to complain, he still had to sneak in the Beacon Academy before got too late and now everything was going to be borderline lock down. He'd have to hurry.

After managing to get away pretty much scot-free, and Neo throwing the tracking device out the window, they landed at the docks of all places. There was no one around, not this late in the day, so they didn't have to worry about being seen. It was at this point Naruto found himself sitting on a crate, Neo sitting across from him swinging her legs back and forth just a few inches above the ground, waiting for Roman to come out of one of the bathrooms. When he did, he was back to wearing his normal attire, bowler hat and all.

"So, can I have a name to put to your ominous face?" Roman asked as he twirled his cane before stabbing into the ground and casually leaning up against it.

"You've actually met him before," Cinder's voice came from the shadows, "Roman?"

"Yes Satan?" Roman whispered, although Naruto still heard him, as he turned around to face the raven haired woman, "Cinder, how lovely to see you again, I'd almost thought you forgot about me!"

"As amusing as you attempt to brown nose me is, I believe it's time we all officially became acquainted," Cinder pointed out as two more individuals walked out of the shadows behind her.

"Oh great, the kids are here to," no one could mistake the sarcasm in Roman tone, "But I suppose you're right. After all, I'm still curious as to who I mysterious rescuer is."

"Like I said, you've met him before, not too long ago in fact," Cinder motioned for Naruto to reveal himself, which he reluctantly did.

"I would say am sorry for beating you up," Naruto said as he lowered his hood and removed his mask, "But you were picking a fight with a fifteen-year-old little girl."

"Ah, the man responsible for me going to jail in the first place, how ironic that you'd be the one to break me out," Neo smiling face suddenly turn into a ugly snarl as the blade on the end of her parasail extended, only to be stopped when Roman put a hand on her shoulder.

"Now now, Neo, no need for that."

"Naruto here was unaware that his contract aligned with our plans, so you're winding up in jail was an unfortunate miscalculation. However, now that you're free, we can return to business as usual."

"You mean you guys can," Naruto told Cinder, "I still have to get back to the Academy."

Cinder frowned again at how Naruto spoke out, this time her eye twitched in annoyance, yet it was one of her little friends that spoke up in her defense.

"You'd find it best to do what you're told, or face the consequences," the female one said, but Naruto just scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"I'm not paid to do what you guys tell me, I even did this out of a courtesy really. Besides, you lot aren't exactly the scariest people I've come up against," Naruto said before turning around and making his way towards the exit, only to tilt his head to the side as a basketball sized fireball went sailing passes said.

Naruto was taken aback for a moment, where the hell did that fireball come from, but when he turned back he got his answer. Cinder stood there, her arm outstretched, with power literally glowing around her eyes. She looked mad, Naruto just kept grinning.

"You work for me, understand?" She growled out, all previous thoughts of flirting having been washed away by Naruto's brazing declaration that he wouldn't bow to her well.

"Ha, you know I would find that intimidating, if you are actually intimidating," Naruto snarked.

"Are you mocking me?"

Naruto just gave one more wink before exiting the building, not even bothering to close the door behind him. He just found a happy tune as he walked back towards the city, wondering if he could still make it in time for that transport.

* * *

As it turns out, Naruto did manage to get back in to Beacon without being noticed and even managed to make it all the way back up to his room. Of course by this point the sun had already set his teammates were no doubt asleep, which he couldn't really blame them for. Still, after the day he's had, all Naruto wanted to do was crawl into his bed and joined them. Sure enough, when he opened the door almost all of them were passed out in their beds, but there was one person still waiting up form. Sitting there on his bed, dressed in her night clothes and with a magazine resting in her lap, was Yang.

"I didn't expect anyone to still be up," Naruto said as he took off his school jacket and his new weapons hidden inside the case given to him.

"I thought you somehow got expelled from school, we had to cover for you during the last two classes," Yang pointed out as she closed her magazine and got up from Naruto's bed, walking over and getting right in his personal space.

"I felt I was lacking a ranged weapon, so I went out into town to get one. That and I wanted to clear my head," Naruto admitted as he went to undo his vest, only the pause when he felt Yang doing it for him.

"You were mad at us, weren't you?" Naruto didn't know how to respond to that; on one hand he was a brutally honest kind of guy, but on the other he didn't want to hurt Yang's feelings for some reason.

"Something like that," Yang finished unbuttoning his vest and pushed it back off his shoulders, allowing it to fall to the floor.

"I was thinking about it all day, about why you'd be mad at us, but it was actually Blake that figured it out first," Yang said as she looked down and focused on removing Naruto's belt, "She said you were mad because all we did was complain about Cardin, we didn't even do anything to help that girl. Were some of the best fighters of our year, but it never even crossed our minds to stand up to that guy. You were the one to do it, you even got him to hit you first and just so you could say it was self-defense."

"Yeah, it was a bit disappointing, but it shouldn't have been all that surprising to me. I can even spin it the other way and ask why Velvet didn't stick up for herself, she is a second year student after all. Maybe, as your guys team leader, I should've made my thoughts more apparent before acting," Naruto scratched the back of his head, only to let out a sudden yelp when Yang gripped both ends of his unlocked belt and shoved him up against the wall with her body now firmly pressed against him.

"Why do you make me feel like this?" The little berserker growled as she reached up and gripped the front of Naruto's shirt.

"Yang?" Naruto was more than a little confused, until he was suddenly met with a vibrant red eyes staring into his own.

"Whenever I do something good, I like it when you praise me. I like it when you laugh at my stupid jokes, or when you tell even stupider ones. I got so mad when Cardin hit you that I nearly went berserk right then and there. When you walked out of the cafeteria and ignored us, I felt like Weiss just froze my heart," Yang half whispered in half yelled, trying not to wake their teammates but wanting to get her point across, "This isn't like with my other friends, or even when Ruby gets made at me, but it's also not like with any of my ex-boyfriends either. What the hell are you doing to me?"

"Yang," Naruto whispered gently, gripping her wrist lightly and pulling her hand off his collar, "I think we're both tired and need to go to bed."

Yang's red eyes slowly turned back to normal, her anger giving way to a soft dejectedness as she backed away and moved to go towards her bunk. But this time it was Naruto that reached out for her, gripping her hand.

"I'm feeling a little cold tonight," was all Naruto said.

Yang's eyes suddenly lit up slowly, a bit of relief shown through, "You just want to sleep with a pretty girl."

* * *

Qrow stood outside and all-too-familiar house, flask in one hand and scroll in the other. The door opened to reveal a very tired looking Taiyang, dressed in only a T-shirt and a pair of shorts.

"Qrow?" Tai asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, "What are you doing here?"

"I um, I need to tell you something. I was at Beacon a few days ago and there's something I need to tell you."

Up above the two men, a raven flew across the moon. A raven with red eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Naruto let out a relaxed sigh as he sat against a tree in the main courtyard of Beacon Academy, his knives, spear, and sword all sat on a red town in front of him. It was the team's first Saturday together and Naruto intended to spend the day just relaxing. Yang was all for kicking back and taking the day off, evident by the way she was slumped against Naruto's side and playing on her scroll. Pyrrha herself was stripping apart her triple changer of a weapon with a small satisfied smile on her face. Blake lay up on one of the thicker tree branches with a rather thick book in her hands. In fact, the only one missing was Jaune.

"I may be Jaune's leader but that doesn't make me his mother," Naruto had told Pyrrha when she brought it up, "He's his own man."

The redhead hadn't initially been happy with Naruto's response, she's noticed Jaune acting strange for the last few days, but he did have a point. Out of their entire team, maybe even their year, Jaune was the weakest and least combat capable. His first spar with Naruto ended up being spent teaching Jaune how to properly use a sword and shield. His reflexes were almost non-existent, his strength was about normal, and he had no tolerance for pain. The only thing Jaune did have going for him was his ability to come up with simple battle plans on the spot.

Still, he hadn't come to any of them for help and Naruto knew he couldn't help someone that didn't want to be helped. Jaune wanted to be a hero, there was no doubt about that, but he didn't want to put forth the effort. He didn't want to wake up before dawn just to train a bit more, nor did he choose to hone his skills during his personal time. This was a school for hunters and huntresses and it was already more forgiving than the outside world would ever be.

With barely any effort, Naruto unsheathed his katana, rested it softly on his lap, and pulled out a dust infused whetstone. This was actually a gift from Blake, it was how she kept her own blades sharp; or so she says. Naruto wasn't complaining though, the results spoke for themselves. Each time the stone glided down the edge of his blade, Naruto felt the tension just slip away. It also helped that Yang had been acting more affectionate than normal. She'd been attached to Naruto's hip from the moment they woke up.

"Ha, take that you little bastard," Yang hammered away at her scroll, cutely biting her tongue in concentration, while her lilac eyes narrowed at the little figures dancing across the screen.

Naruto's crimson eyes glanced away from his task and over Yang's shoulder, watching the two mini characters dance back and forth. The older blonde never did waste time playing games when he was younger, at least not after his training began, so he was more than a little fascinated by it. What made them fun, did playing them improve one's mind? Or was it simply used to relax, much in the same way Naruto enjoyed maintaining his weapons?

Yang seemed to notice her fellow Blonde's curious gaze and grinned a bit, shifting just enough to give him a better view of both the screen and down her shirt. Her grin widened even more when Naruto's cheeks turned a bit pink, but he didn't pull back.

"What's the point of this game?" Naruto eventually asked, going back to the task of sharpening his katana but still paying attention to Yang.

"To kick ass and become the number one basher," Yang replied as she paused her game, "You wanna give it a shot?"

Naruto just smiled and shook his head, "No thanks, I know my limits and the last thing I want is for you guys to be teasing me about not being able to play a video game. Besides, I don't think I'll be able to get the same amount of enjoyment out of it that you do."

"I can make it enjoyable," Yang purred.

"Ugh, will you two just get a room already," Blake groaned from her position up in the tree; she'd sat through their near constant flirting for almost an entire week now.

"We have a room, but who knows whom might walk in on us," Yang pointed out without hesitation, showing that she had at least given the idea some thought.

Blake just rolled her eyes and went back to her book, titled Ninjas of Love, grumbling under her breath. She really should stop reading her smut went around the two blondes, naughty ideas were beginning to form. The last thing Blake needed was drama on the team, especially with her own little secret.

"She does have a point, you two are rather...public with your flirting," Pyrrha tried to say as nicely as she could, almost as if she was afraid of somehow offending them.

"You got to live life to the fullest," Yang cut in with a thousand watt smile, "Otherwise what's the point? If I want to flirt with my team leader, then why should I care about what the public says?"

"Then why don't you two just kiss already? You're already sleeping together," Blake felt a little satisfied when Yang stammered a bit, she finally got one over on the blonde bombshell.

"These things have to go in a proper order," Yang tried to reason, "Besides, you never kiss in the first week."

"Sounds like someone's chicken," Blake mocked.

Yang let out a warning growl, no one called her a chicken and got away with it, and even her eyes flash scarlet for a split second. Yet the sudden feeling of lips on her cheek washed all the anger away. Naruto had leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek, almost landing right on her lips, and Yang felt a small tingle go up her back from the sensation.

"Sorry Blake, you'll have to wait a bit longer to spy on us making out," Naruto said mockingly.

Blake didn't respond to Naruto's bait, her survival instincts were to thank for that, and silence once again fell upon the five-man team. It was becoming almost routine at this point, even if it was a bit strange, and everyone was quickly becoming used to each other's little quirks. Naruto was actually more than a little amused by the whole situation; to think he'd enjoy infiltrating this place. Even if some of the students were little more than cannon fodder, some of them had a small bit of potential worth note. The potential of his team was obvious, but there were others. Ruby's team was good example.

The younger blackette was still occasionally asking Naruto for advice, when their own teams were way of course, and Naruto was more than happy to assist her. The young Branwen wonder if this is what the members of his tribe felt like teaching him, if they wanted to see him succeed and use their skills to do so. That was all beside the point at the moment, today was a day for relaxation and absolutely nothing was going to go wrong. Absolutely nothing!

(Five Hours Later)

If only things could have stayed peaceful, Naruto really was hoping to just have the day off to relax. Then Yang just had to suggest going into the city to have some fun, the only way she really knew how. The club she took them to practically screams _shady_, but at least they didn't check them for their ID's. Pyrrha had been more than a bit hesitant about going to such a place, but a few words of encouragement from Naruto solved that problem. Even Jaune finally showed up and decided to go with them.

It was about an hour in that someone made the deadly mistake of hitting on Yang, only to get upset when she rejected the guy flat out. This led to the walking dead man grabbing her arm and getting a fist to the face in response, sending him flying across the club and into the far wall. As one would expect, this then led to the entire club descending into complete and utter madness.

It was also a good thing nobody had their weapons, aside from Naruto who always kept one of his knives on his person at all times, otherwise the club would've been torn down to the ground by this point. Although that didn't stop Yang from trying, seeing as she was currently swinging around one of the guys and using him as a weapon to beat anyone else that came within striking range. It was actually rather funny, if it wasn't for the fact that the authorities were no doubt on their way.

"Why is it that things always seem to devolve into a fight?" Blake asked as she delivered a devastating roundhouse kick to some poor man's face.

"How should I know? I just want to spend the day peacefully relaxing," Naruto said, "So don't go blaming this one on me."

"Sorry! Sorry!" Both Naruto and Blake looked over to see Pyrrha knocking out attacker after attacker, apologizing each time she thought she hit somebody too hard, "Please stop making me hurt you."

It was actually pretty funny when you look at it, considering none of them even got so much as a hit in before they were violently beaten down by the "Invincible Girl". Even without her sword and shield, Pyrrha was still a force to be reckoned with. She moved around with practiced grace and seemed to dodge attacks that she had no way of knowing was there. Naruto took note of this.

"Hey Blake!" Yang shouted from across the club as she threw one of the bouncers at the blackette, "You're up!"

Blake just looked at Naruto and let out an irritated sigh as he bent down low and cupped his hands together. The bow-wearing huntress then took off towards him at a dead sprint, stepping onto his cupped hands and letting yourself be catapulted high into the air. She delivered another devastating kick, strong enough to send the poor victim hurdling right into the ground and knock him right out.

The sound of sirens getting closer drew the team's attention, even Jaune who is being held in the air by an overly large bouncer, notice the approaching sirens. They all knew they'd be in serious trouble if they were caught, so they did the logical thing and took off towards the stairwell leading up to the roof. Pyrrha made sure to grab Jaune on her way, kicking the large bouncer right in his family jewels for good measure.

"Well this is just great, now what are we supposed to do?" Jaune asked, mildly freaking out of the thought of getting in trouble and possibly getting kicked out of Beacon.

Naruto glanced around for a moment, taking in all their options, before his gaze finally settled upon another nearby rooftop. With the running head start, Naruto ran towards the edge of the roof, slammed his foot down on it slightly elevated part, and launched himself through the air. He landed with barely any trouble before turning back to look at his team, flashing them a challenging grin. Yang was naturally the first one to act, charging forward without a second thought and making the distance with about as much ease as Naruto had. Blake was practically right on her heels, although she landed in more of a crouch. Then it was Jaune's turn and he didn't look nearly as confident as his three other teammates, which was easily picked up on by Pyrrha.

"Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked, although there was a quickness to her tone that show she didn't want to be there any longer than she had to; which was to be expected considering the authorities were on their way.

"What? Yeah I'm fine, I just need a warm up for a moment," Jaune tried to pass it off like it wasn't bothering him, but the more he stood there the more it became apparent what the problem was.

"You can make the jump, right?" Pyrrha looked a bit more concerned at this point, although not as concerned as Jaune was.

"No," Jaune finally admitted, they could hear the authorities running up the stairs at this very moment.

It was at this moment that Pyrrha did something unexpected, to just about everyone. She grabbed Jaune by his shirt, her other hand grabbed his belt, and she literally threw him to the other roof. One jump later and the redhead had also joined them, although she did look a bit more irritated than before.

"What was the hold up?" Naruto asked, not having expected Pyrrha to handle her partner so roughly; it was rather strange.

"Jaune got hurt in the fight so he couldn't make the jump. He was just a little embarrassed to admit it," Pyrrha whispered the lie, as if trying to hide her words from Jaune, and Naruto just slowly nodded his head.

There was no way an academy student wouldn't have been able to make that jump, even Ruby would've been able to make it, and Jaune had told them many times that he had gone to the academy. Naruto had some digging to do, the kind that involved breaking into the headmaster's office and digging through the student files. Yet there was no rush, he had plenty of time and didn't want to risk his job just because he was curious about one of his weaker teammates.

"Alright, let's get out of here before the authorities catch us," Naruto sent a pointed look at Yang, who just gave him her traditional grin and wink.

"It's not like it's my fault the fight broke out," Yang tried to defend yourself, putting her hands on her hips as the whole team followed Naruto's lead, "He shouldn't have grabbed me."

"And I'm sure giving him brain damage was the proper response," Blake drawled sarcastically, even going so far as to roll her eyes.

"You guys should have seen the fight I got into before coming to Beacon. Talk about a party," Yang bragged.

Well Naruto, Blake, and Yang all moved on ahead, Pyrrha fell back to Jaune's side. The timid blonde had been staring off into space the moment he had picked himself up off the ground. He even jumped when he finally did look up and found Pyrrha staring at him with a worried look.

"Hey Pyrrha, what's up?" Jaune asked, nervously scratching the back of his head.

"You know we're partners, right? You can tell me anything and the others won't find out about it," Pyrrha finally said, putting her hand on his shoulder in comfort, but Jaune just looked away again.

"I'm fine, everything's fine, I'm just bad at jumping like I am everything else," he said in a self-defeating tone, his shoulder slumping while he let out a depressed sigh.

"I can help you get better, we all can. You don't have to do everything yourself," the redhead tried to plead, extending an olive branch out like she knew her team leader never would.

"That's okay, I need to get strong on my own."

"Jaune, no one get strong without any help," that had been a hard lesson for Pyrrha to learn as well, but thankfully she learned at an early age.

Jaune looked like he was contemplating it, before just shaking his head.

"No thanks, I'll be fine."

Pyrrha watched him walk on ahead with a bit of sadness flashing through her eyes, but it was over in an instant. Maybe Naruto was right.

* * *

Once they did make it back to Beacon, managing to make it just in time to catch one of the last transports for the day, everyone but Naruto decided to head back to the dorm. He made up some excuse about stopping by the forge for a bit, none of the others had the energy to question him, which he was thankful for. In truth Naruto made his way towards the main tower of the academy, or rather the elevator to be more specific. He figured that if there was a lower section of the school, then the man or woman that designed it would make sure only the headmaster had access.

As he approached the elevator, taking note of every camera he casually walked past, Naruto began to get the feeling that he was being watched. This wasn't a skill that could be taught, but learned through living with animals and being stalked by the most dangerous predators that roamed the land. Yet it was the sound of two people talking, just around the corner, that drew Naruto's attention. If Naruto was right, which a quick glance proved he was, then Headmaster Ozpin was having a heated argument with his headmistress.

"Are you just going to ignore this?" Glynda asked, pointing angrily at the information displayed on her scroll while Ozpin stood there like a mountain against a raging hurricane.

"No, I'm choosing to give Mr. Arc a chance to become the type of man I saw his father become," Ozpin said without batting an eye at Glynda's heated stare, "But you disapprove."

"Of course I disapprove!" Glynda snapped, "He faked his records and never even attended so much as a basic combat school. We need to send him home before he gets himself killed."

Ozpin looked to at least consider Glynda's words, but his mind was already made up and no amount of arguing would change that.

"I've made up my mind on the matter; as long as I believe he has the potential to become a great man he is free to stay here," Ozpin said with a large amount of finality in his voice, practically shutting down the discussion, but Glynda was a stubborn woman.

"You've been acting out of line lately, Ozpin. First by bringing in Ms. Rose a full two years ahead of schedule, in spite of the fact she's clearly too young, and even giving her the position of team leader, then with those security cameras installed in Mr. Uzumaki's dorm room, now with this?" Glynda ranted on, only to fall silent when Ozpin slammed the end of his cane into the tile flooring.

"Enough!" Ozpin finally snapped, "There are higher stakes at risk here than simply endangering a few children. We fight against the very embodiment of evil, the one who created the Grimm, and sometimes these risky decisions must be made."

"Even at the expense of the innocent? Are you really the same man I met all those years ago, or have you always had this level of ego and I just didn't see it?" Glynda asked before turning around and walking away, the sound of her heels clicking against the tile growing fainter and fainter.

"You wouldn't understand," Naruto heard Ozpin whisper, "Sometimes, in the war against evil, stalemate is victory. I can't defeat her, but I can hold her off long enough to find someone who can. Every life that ends because of this choice, does not end in vain."

Naruto watched Ozpin enter the elevator and press it to go up to his office, entering in a passcode judging by the way his hand was moving, but Naruto was much too distracted this point to continue his reconnaissance. There something bigger going on, something clearly not public knowledge, and it somehow involved his new comrades. This also made him question how much he'd been told about his own mission, both by his mysterious benefactor and Cinder.

"Looks like I've got some more work to do."

* * *

Naruto arrived back in his dorm room to find the lights turned out and everyone on the respective bunks. His mind traveled back to what he heard Ozpin say after Glynda had left him, how there was apparently something happening behind the curtains. This made Naruto question which side he was on, what part he was playing in a game that he had no idea existed. Ozpin was easily making himself out to be the bad guy, but what about this mysterious woman he was supposedly fighting against?

Stepping into the shower to wash the days worries away, Naruto allowed the almost scalding hot water to rinse over him. It set the nerves in his body on fire, made his muscles tense and then relax once they became accommodated to this new heat. Soon enough steam filled the bathroom, making the air humid and difficult to breathe in. Naruto just stood there, his forehead resting up against the cold tile while the water rinse down his back. He leaned back a bit and allow the faucet to spray onto his face, the water rushing down and into his ears to cut out the sound around him. Everything felt so far away now, like he was placed in a bubble apart from the world.

The door to the bathroom silently slid open, Naruto had forgotten to lock it when he entered, and a figure silently slipped in before closing the door once more; this time locking it. A pair of shorts and a bright yellow T-shirt hit the bathroom floor just seconds later, yet still Naruto was oblivious to it. He was still oblivious to the curtains sliding open just a little bit and the figure slipping in behind him. It was only when he felt a hand touched the middle of his back that Naruto reacted, although not in the way the intruder would expect.

His body had moved on its own, spinning around and slamming this sudden intruder up against the shower wall, one hand wrapped around their throat while the other pinned their hands above their head. It was only a few seconds after this Naruto realized the intruder wasn't actually a threat.

"Yang?" Naruto asked, loosening the pressure he was putting on her throat but smartly keeping her hands pinned above her head; he wasn't looking to get punched while in the shower.

"Hey there, whiskers," Yang's eyes were lidded, even as her gaze traveled down his sculpted and scarred torso to what lay below the belt.

"What would you doing here?" His words were husky, the site of Yang being bare before him was something truly magnificent, but he was still mostly in control of himself.

"I was thinking about what Blake said earlier, about us just kissing already," Yang said as she pushed herself forward a little bit, her throat pressing up against Naruto's hand while her well-endowed bust squished itself against his chest.

Naruto leaned in closer, shifting his hand from around her throat to the back of her head, "So you decided to sneak into the shower with me?"

"I wanted to see the full package before I committed myself," their lips were almost touching at this point, scarlet and lilac eyes not breaking contact no matter how close they got.

"And?" The word was barely above a whisper, like the ghost of a lover to Yang's ears.

"And mama likes," the gap closed between them.

Everything was oddly quiet when their lips collided, like the moment of silence between lightning and thunder. The water had stopped, the air had stilled, and even their hearts had stopped beating just to witness this one moment. Then they pulled back in time itself seemed to resume, their eyes now perfectly matched shade of red, and they both submitted to another kiss. The next kiss was harder, more frantic and needy, the kind of kiss that rips the sky apart. It steals their breath away and gives it back when they part, only for that frantic need to force them back together again.

Naruto's hands had long since stopped pinning Yang's own, having instead slid down her toned arms, glided down her back, and roughly pulling her closer while he himself pushed her up against the shower wall. Yang let out a muffled moan, her lips dancing against Naruto's, feeling like lightning was shooting through her body.

They were kissing like crazy. Like their lives depended on it, like if they separated it would all end. Naruto's tongue finally slipped into her mouth, skilled and demanding, and it was like nothing Yang had ever experienced. Yang's freed hands eventually found themselves gripping Naruto's damp hair, trying to pull him closer and deeper. Their pulse pounded and their hearts felt like they were about to explode.

Yang's impressive strength push Naruto back, making him lose his footing and unceremoniously land on the floor of the shower. For a moment Naruto thought he had done something wrong, but such thoughts were banished when Yang straddled him and force their lips together again. He found the weight of her body on top of his to be extraordinary, like he could feel every part of her pressed up against him. Even as the shower water tamed her normally uncontrollable hair, his nose filled with the scent of strawberries as he breathed in her scent.

It was the most delicious smell he could ever imagine. He craves more of it, wrapping his hands once again around her waist and pulling her completely against him. With his back against the shower wall, his legs spread out, and Yang arched into his body like a missing puzzle piece that finally found its home. Their hands were everywhere, it didn't matter that her mouth was already on top of his, he wanted her to be even closer.

Their lips broke apart again, this time leaving behind a small string of saliva to still connect them. Their foreheads rested against each other as the slightly cooler water beat down on them. Yang leaned back, letting out a slight shudder when she felt something grind in between her butt cheeks, and just barely managed to grin as she reached out and turn the heat up even more.

"I'm glad to see I don't disappoint," even as she spoke those words, trying to sound as tough and teasing as he possibly could, there was no denying the way her face flushed from the feeling of his presence pressed up against her.

Naruto didn't respond with words, he was a man of action, and Yang let out a startled yelp when both his hands slapped down hard on her rear; each one taking handfuls of soft flesh. That seemed to kill Yang's desire for a conversation, she dove back down upon him with a vengeance. As their tongues danced together again, Yang's fight was more focused on another sensation she was now feeling. The difference between the hot water and her leaking excitement was like night and day. They moaned into each other's mouths when the friction began to get too much, making the move faster and faster against each other. Her nails dug into his chest with a vengeance, nearly drawing blood, while his strong hands clenched her rear even tighter.

The water was practically scolding now, the sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the bathroom as Yang grinded herself against him, and like a coiled spring they eventually broke. Naruto's arms went from her rear to completely enveloping her entire body, pulling her as close against him as he possibly could. Their minds flashed white at the same time, all sense of reason having long since gone out the window, and the world was little more than background noise for the next few blissful moments. Moments that seemed to stretch on into eternity.

Then the world came crashing back down around them, the sound of the shower, water hitting the tile, and the drain consuming it all. The steam filled room was almost impossible to breathing now, they could barely even see the rest of the bathroom even without the now torn down curtain.

With barely any strength left in her arms, Yang somehow managed to lift herself up enough and turn off the shower before collapsing back on top of her fellow blonde. Their breaths were completely in rhythm, their hearts beat as one, and the absurdity of their situation didn't even register.

"So much for waiting a week," Naruto managed to barely get out between gasping for air and gently laughing.

Yang just hummed for a moment, her long golden locks spread out over them both like a sopping wet blanket, "It's been more than a week."

"What?" Naruto asked with some confusion.

"We met last Saturday, on the ride to Beacon, almost three hours ago," Yang said, resting her head on his chest and listen to his heart slowly calm down.

Naruto let out a short laugh, realizing that Yang was right. The pair stayed like that for a bit longer, almost falling asleep right then and there. Maybe that's why neither of them realize that the door to the bathroom was slightly cracked open and that a bright yellow eye had been watching them the entire time.

Blake had known something was going to happen the moment she heard Yang get up and enter the bathroom. At first she was just going to reprimand them, or at least that's what she told herself, but the moment she picked the lock and cracked the door open it all ended. She wasn't lying about having a thing for blondes with tight muscles; she blames this one girl she knew in the White Fang.

Before she knew it the loose outfit she wore to sleep had been spread apart and her hand practically dove to scratch a certain itch. She'd watch them the entire time, fingers rubbing desperately while her other hand latched itself over her mouth to keep in the watery and lustful moan. Then their release came, followed swiftly by Blake's, and the bow-wearing girl was filled with a sense of shame.

This was meant to be their moment, their special moment and she was here spying on them like some sort of shameless pervert. The sense of shame she felt only seemed to make the fire burned within her even more. So, sparing them one last glance, Blake slowly licked her lips as she brought two soaked fingers up to them. This was her bitter shame, and she craved more.

Maybe she should tease Yang more often, if this was the result.

**No sex for the blondes yet, but we're getting there.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Monday unfortunately reared its ugly head and it was back to class for everyone. Fortunately for the first year students, Ms. Goodwitch decided to take them all on an early field trip into the Foreverfall Forest to collect a special kind of tree sap for one of the teachers. Naruto's entire team thought it was a waste of time, but no one wanted to sit in a classroom the entire day. Although Naruto did find it odd that Jaune just seemed to vanish about five minutes after they landed and Glynda gave them their task, an impressive feat given just who his teammates were.

Naruto tried to hide his irritation as best he could, but the boy was going to get ripped a new one for just wandering off like he did. Although, on a side note, Naruto did find out that at least Glynda had access to the cameras in his team's room. The green-eyed woman practically refused to meet his or Yang's gaze. This meant there was at least one camera in the bathroom, a camera Naruto decided to leave for the moment, and what he overheard was less likely to be a trick. Now, getting back to the task at hand, Naruto let out a tired sigh as he filled up another jar with sap.

"So, is everyone else having as much fun as I am?" Naruto asked as he turned back to face his team along with Ruby's; her team had shown up not long after Naruto's got to work.

"It beats sitting in class all day," Ruby pointed out, getting a raised eyebrow from Weiss but didn't pay it much mind.

"Amen to that, little sis!" Yang shouted, somehow managing to twirl the full jar of sap on her finger with a surprising amount of ease.

"Nora, stop eating all the sap!" Ren shouted at his childhood friend, who had a large amount of sap surrounding her mouth.

"But it tastes so good!" Nora shouted back as she managed to drink another jar full of the stuff in only a few gulps.

"Hey!" Blake interrupted, marching over to the orange haired girl and snatching the jar out of her hand, "That one was mine!"

"I don't see your name written on it!" Nora challenged, trying to get back the jar full of delicious sap.

"Aren't you going to do something?" Naruto asked Ruby, sending her sideways glance, but the silver-eyed girl just shook her head in defeat.

"Ruby has learned not to get in between Nora and food," Weiss explained, showing a surprising amount of sympathy by patting her team leader on the back, "It's better for all of us that Nora has her fill, otherwise we will be out here all day."

"You have my condolences," Naruto reached over and patted Ruby on her shoulder, the tribe had someone just like Nora so he knew what she was going through.

"Hey, so does anyone know where Jaune went?" Yang finally asked, knowing something was up with the boy but not wanting to really get involved.

"He probably went off with his new best friend," everyone was surprised by the amount of venom in Pyrrha's voice, she was normally the nice one on the team.

"New best friend?" Blake asked, having officially given up on keeping her jar away from the bottomless pit known as Nora's stomach.

"Cardin Winchester," Naruto wondered if it was strange that he found it hot when Pyrrha got upset.

"Oh, you mean the guy Naruto beat up last week!" Yang stated, only to jump in surprise when Nora suddenly appeared behind her and snatched her own jar right out of her hands.

"What happened?" there was a level of authority in Naruto's tone that made everyone stand up a bit straighter, even Nora stopped chugging her sap.

"Last night, before we went to bed, I offered to instruct Jaune on how to fight since he's been struggling. But he didn't want my help," there was no mistaking the anger in her town now, "He said he didn't want to be the damsel in distress, that he didn't want help, that he wanted to be a hero."

"How does Cardin fit into all this?" Naruto asked, although his sensitive ears could've sworn he picked up the sound of buzzing.

"Apparently Cardin has something on him or he's just that afraid, but Jaune's been hanging out with him a lot lately. I'm guessing it started sometime last week."

"I see," Naruto already had a pretty good idea of what Cardin might have on Jaune, which put Naruto himself in quite the position.

"I say we break his legs!" Nora shouted, seemingly pulling her hammer out of thin air.

"Cardin's or Jaune's?" Weiss asked.

"Can't it be both?" Yang countered, about to say something else but was stopped when a glass jar suddenly slammed right into her baby sister, covering her and sap.

"Gross, who's throwing sap that people?!" Ruby shouted as she tried desperately to scrape the sap off of her combat skirt, with Yang moving over to help as best she could.

"Who's out there?!" Weiss shouted, but only silence answered her.

The sound of buzzing was getting louder, to the point that everyone could clearly hear it now, and Naruto had a really bad feeling. Charging out of the forest like a small army was a swarm of insects the likes of which none had ever seen before. They were nasty little things, about the size of Naruto's thumb, with an angry black and red design on them and their stingers about half an inch in length. The others might not know what they were, but Naruto sure did. Rapier wasps were common threat for those that live out in the wilds, especially with the amount of venom they carry. In small doses it wasn't that bad, it caused some moderate pain but nothing life threatening, but a swarm of them was another story entirely. They were also attracted to sweet things, like the sap that was currently covering Ruby.

"Ruby, run now!" Naruto shouted in alarm as he grabbed Ruby by her arm and practically dragged her away.

Everyone took off running at that point, lest they be overtaken by the swarm. Yet it didn't matter how fast they ran, the swarm was slowly catching up to them and they'd be able to track them for miles in any direction thanks to the sap on Ruby's clothes. Knowing of one way to throw them off for a while, hopefully long enough to get Ruby away, Naruto acted quickly and hoped the younger girl could forgive him.

"What are you doing?!" Ruby cried when Naruto suddenly pulled her around the side of a thick tree, unsheathed his dangerously sharp knife, and proceed to cut off both her skirt and a good section of the rest of her dress.

He then quickly threw the sap-covered clothing as far as he could before wrapping Ruby in her own bright red cloak and throwing his over her for good measure. Not seeing this happen, which was a good thing because who knew how Yang would've reacted in the heat of the moment, the others followed Naruto's lead and dove behind their own trees. The rapier wasps took little time to catch up and practically dove into the bushes that Naruto had thrown Ruby's clothing, although a few of them tried to go for Ruby herself. The scent of sap still being on her more so than even Nora, but that meant they'd have to get through Naruto first.

Naruto did his best to cover Ruby's smaller form with his own, even with the thickness of the two cloaks he still wasn't a hundred percent sure she'd be safe, but none of that made the sudden stings on his back feel any better. Two of them bit into his upper back, a few more got his arms and legs, but the thing about rapier wasps was that they could sting multiple times and enough of them could eventually break through someone's aura. Knowing this, Naruto focused on his entire body and willed his semblance to manifest itself for a brief moment.

A pulse of energy shot off his body by just a few inches, not enough to damage his cloak or Ruby but enough to kill all the wasps attacking him. Moving back just a bit, Naruto saw some burns on his cloak. It turns out he wasn't as good at controlling his semblance as he thought he was.

"Naruto, Naruto are you alright?" Ruby's muffled voice could be heard from inside her little barrier as she desperately tried to find a way to poke her head out, unaware that the others were approaching them but being wary of the bush not too far away.

"I'm going to find whoever did this," Naruto growled, his already crimson eyes seeming to shine with anger while the aura around him glowed from a sudden increase in power, "And I'm going to gut them like a fish."

Yang was the bravest out of all them, or maybe she just believe Naruto wouldn't lash out at her, so she was the first to approach him. Luckily for her Naruto was back in control and didn't attack her when she put her hand on his shoulder, his aura fading back to normal as his temper cooled.

"You okay?" a simple question is any, it was such a Yang question.

"I'm fine, but I think your sister needs some new clothes," Naruto replied, slowly getting back to his feet, getting a weird look from Yang.

"What, from the sap? We'll just throw her clothes in the wash when we get back to Beacon."

"I'm afraid I had to get a little drastic when it came to making some of those wasps go away," Naruto admitted as he walked back over to where Ruby was still sitting, her face matching Pyrrha's hair exactly.

"How drastic?" a pair of violet eyes narrowed it Naruto.

"Her entire skirt and most of the upper part of her dress," Naruto expertly dodge the punch that would've taken his head off.

"Yang!" Ruby cried, "He did it to save me!"

"What, huh?" Yang seemed to snap back to reality; apparently her big sister instincts were that strong.

While Yang and Ruby talked, Naruto went right back into business, "You guys should take Ruby back to the transport ship and let Ms. Goodwitch know what happened."

"What are you gonna do?" Blake asked, a small shiver crawling its way up her spine at the intensity of Naruto's gaze.

"Someone out there almost got us all injured whether they realize it or not, and I'm going to find them," Naruto swore, his hand automatically going to the hilt of his katana.

"Then I'm going with you," Yang suddenly spoke up.

"No, your sister need you more right now," this wasn't the fun and teasing Naruto right now, not the one they've grown accustomed to, this was their team leader saying what was going to happen.

"At least let someone go with you," Pyrrha cut in before Yang could start an argument.

"Fine. Blake, how good are you a tracking?" if these people decided to take off, Naruto would need a fellow tracker to keep up with him.

"I can keep up," was all she said.

"All right, the rest of you get back to the transport and be careful of the Grimm. Pyrrha, you're in charge until Blake and I returned."

"You can count on me."

As the others went to go their separate ways Naruto was suddenly stopped by someone grabbing on to his wrist.

"I know we don't know each other all that well," Weiss began, glaring down at the ground as she held onto Naruto before suddenly looking up at him with an intense rage in her eyes, "But make sure they hurt for this. Then bring them back so I can make them hurt some more."

Naruto only nodded in response before looking over Blake and jutting his head in the direction they just came from. The two partners took off into the forest at a dead sprint, knowing they'd have to hurry if they still wanted to catch the culprits. It didn't take them long to reach their previous site, glass jars scattered around the clearing, and both trackers quickly found out which way the jar had been thrown from. They scaled up a small hill that had been overlooking their area and found five imprints in the grass, each one of varying sizes.

"We're the only five-man team at the school," Blake said as she knelt down and examined each of the imprints, "So who could it be?"

"We'll find out soon enough, I got tracks over here the go that way," Naruto said while pointing deeper into the forest, were very few of the teams were allowed to go.

"If they're older students then it might be best to avoid a fight," Blake pointed out, knowing that the older students were allowed free roam of both the Emerald Forest and the Foreverfall Forest for team training.

"None of the older students have a grudge against us, nor have we done anything to earn this kind of attack. I think I know exactly who this was."

"Winchester?"

"Yeah."

No more words were exchanged, their prey was close. Sure enough, Naruto and Blake pause on the outside of a large clearing and laid eyes upon Cardin and his team laughing with Jaune slumped under a tree looking like he just been beaten to a pulp. Cardin was even holding Jaune's weapon, which is now little more than a bent piece of scrap metal, while his shield looked to be completely dented in.

"Did you go see the looks on their faces? Absolutely priceless!" Cardin laughed so hard he struggled to stay standing, an act that was mirrored by the rest of his team.

"That'll teach that blonde freak to mess with us. If he tries anything we'll just go after one of his friends again!" Dove laughed, completely unaware of the danger his entire team was now in.

"I still say we should've hit the blonde guy, just to make sure we got the point across," Russell scoffed, not been able to live down the shame of being held in place by simple glare.

"The years not over yet," Sky said, a tone of superiority practically oozing from every word, "We still have time to teach them their proper place."

"And we couldn't have done it all without Jaune, the man of the hour," Cardin said, pointing over to the slumped boy before throwing his broken sword at his feet.

While the rest of team CRDL continued to laugh and make fun of what they had just done, none of them notice the slim feline figure land on a tree branch above them, yellow eyes narrowed with barely contained rage. Meanwhile, Naruto himself walked out of the forest and directly towards the team. His presence was noticed almost immediately, but none of team CRDL seemed worried. In fact, Cardin himself almost seemed to please as he hoisted his mace up and rested it on his shoulder.

"Well, well, well, look who it is. The Faunus lover," Cardin mocked, completely unaware that the only reason he wasn't dead was because Naruto had enough restraint to remember he was at Beacon for more than just an education.

"I'm going to give all of you one chance, just one chance, to get down on your knees and beg me for forgiveness. If you don't, if you choose to press your luck against me, I will rain down an ungodly firestorm of pain upon you. I will make what happened in the Great War look like a Sunday morning cartoon. I will massacre each and every one of you before burning your houses to the ground. I will fuck you up," Naruto said as he got closer and closer to Cardin and his team, his voice never raising volume but the sheer killing intent was borderline visible.

"There's four of us and only one of you," Cardin tried to sound confident, he honestly did, but that was a hard thing to do when there was a wet spot forming on your pants.

"It's not going to matter," Naruto growled as he slowly drew his katana from its sheath, "Now get on your knees and beg me for forgiveness."

None of Cardin's team moved, whether out of fear or sheer stupidity, but Naruto got his answer, "Very well."

Naruto stabbed his blade into the ground before slowly beginning to approach the four-man team, each of whom already had their weapons drawn. Each step he took made their hearts pound quicker, the look in his scarlet eyes showed a willingness to kill, and it eventually broke one of them. Russell charged forward with his daggers held high, letting out a rather pathetic war cry as he did so, and Naruto didn't even flinch. Instead he waited until Russell was within striking distance and delivered a devastating side kick right to his lightly armored chest. Russell seemed to levitate in the air for a moment, being held up by Naruto's foot alone as the two opposing forces crashed together, before he crashed back down to earth. Naruto's foot firmly pressed on his chest.

"You bastard!" Sky shouted, this time he and Dove charged at Naruto with their sword and halberd ready to strike.

The blonde Branwen once again waited until they were within range, skillfully dodging each of their swipes and stabs with clearly practiced ease. No matter what they did, what angle they swung from or how coordinated their attack was, not a single blow even came close to landing on Naruto. It was only when Dove came down with another swing from his sword that Naruto made his move, catching the bladed weapon in between both his hands just inches away from his head.

Naruto then ripped the sword out of Dove's hand, flipping around until he held it like a baseball bat, and slamming the flat side of the blade right into his face. The strike had enough force behind it to knock the brown haired teen right out. Naruto then spun around and use his newly acquired weapon to block a strike from Sky before using his free hand to chop the silver haired teen right in the throat. Sky hit the ground a second later, struggling to get air through his windpipe, and was knocked out a second later by a strong kick to the face.

"Now it's your turn," Naruto said menacingly, dropping Dove's sword and turning back to face Cardin.

"Bring it on, I'm not afraid of you!" Cardin shouted, about a charge Naruto like all the others had, only for a long black ribbon to suddenly shoot down from the tree above and wrapped it around his throat.

Blake jumped off a tree branch with her ribbon held in hand, landing on the ground with ease before tugging on the ribbon and yanking it up just enough to nearly hang Cardin. The only thing stopping the large team from choking to death was standing on the tips of his toes, and even then Blake sometimes tugged it just a little bit more to make him panic. While this was going on Naruto walked back over and reclaimed his own sword, wiping off the dirt from the tip of the blade before approaching the nearly hung teenager.

"You attacked someone close to me," Naruto began, resting the edge of his blade right on Cardin's cheek; the blade was so sharp that just resting it there already broke the skin.

"Screw you!" Cardin somehow managed to choke out.

"You know, I did some research on your family after our first little encounter. I was curious to see what kind of messed up things you guys were into, to make someone such as yourself," Naruto said offhandedly, "So imagine my surprise at what I find. Where I was expecting to see a bunch of cutthroats, Faunus haters, and general bigots, and instead find a house of nobility. Your family was one of the first ones to join the King of Vale, named the Knights of Winchester after the small city you all defended."

"Yeah, so you know what will happen if you hurt me," Blake decided to tug on the makeshift noose, shutting the larger teen up.

"Your family use protect everyone, both Faunus and human, weak and strong, but look at you now. Your ancestors must be rolling in their graves, to know that their descendent is such a weak and spineless simpleton. That you would spit upon their very name with your actions. Didn't you all have a code? Something righteous or a standard to live up to? Do you even know it?" Naruto asked mockingly.

Cardin didn't answer, he just glared at Naruto hatefully. Naruto on the other hand removed his sword from Cardin's cheek and took a few steps back.

He cleared his throat and made ready to speak, "Inside the tables circle, under the sacred sword. A knight must bow to follow the code that is unending. An ending as the table, a ring by honor bound. A night is sworn to valor, his heart knows only virtue. His blade defends the helpless. His might upholds the weak. His word speaks only truth. His wrath and does the wicked. The right can never die, if one man still recalls. The words are not for God, if one voice speaks them clear. The code forever shines, if one heart holds it bright."

As Naruto spoke the words of his family, words that used to make Cardin go star-crossed when he was a child, a deep sense of shame seemed to weigh on his heart. He grew up with his father telling him stories about their family, about the knights that held out against Grimm and other evils of the world. How they helped the King of Vale unite the world and bring peace. Now here he was, spitting on every single word of his family's code.

Naruto saw the defeated looking Cardin's eyes, the fire had gone out, and so he nodded to Blake to release him. Blake looked like she didn't want to, she no doubt wanted her own pound of flesh, but she did as her team leader commanded.

"If you ever hurt my friends again, if you even think about it, I will claim your life as compensation," those were Naruto's parting words as he walked over and picked up his own fallen teammate, throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and moved to head back to where the transport ship waited.

"I thought you were going to beat him to within an inch of his life?" Blake asked, walking alongside her leader.

"It takes more than physical pain to break a man. For someone as prideful as Cardin, this is far worse than broken bones."

"What about Jaune? He's been hanging out with Cardin a lot, do you think he had anything to do with it? I mean more so than he already did?"

"I'll find out when we get back back to Beacon, besides I need to have a conversation with him about a few things."

"He's not gonna make it without training," Blake pointed out.

"You're right, that's why I'm going to train him myself. Whether he likes it or not," that was the end of the discussion, the rest of the walk back was consumed by silence.

Far up above, watching the whole thing transpire, was a crow and a raven. The two birds dove down into the forest before seemingly transforming into two individuals.

"I suppose it's a good thing that Naruto didn't inherit all of your quirks, otherwise I think there may have been a bloodbath here," Qrow said, taking a sip from his flask.

"You disapprove?" Raven asked.

"Not in the slightest, I would've done the same thing if someone had pulled that kind of thing with Summer. In fact, didn't you break a guy's arm when he tried hitting on her that one time?" Qrow asked, feeling more at ease around his big sister now that they'd cleared the air somewhat.

"In four different places," Raven said offhandedly, "It's like looking back in time. They may not be on the same team, but it's like history is repeating itself."

"I know what you mean," Qrow paused for a moment, as if unsure what he was about to say next, "Ozpin has called me back in, saying there's a possible threat at the academy that he wants me to keep an eye on."

Raven's eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn't suddenly snap which was a good thing, "My son?"

"That would be the logical answer."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'll play along for now, but family comes first. Family always comes first," there was a new fire in Qrow's eyes, one that hadn't been there for many years, and Raven finally felt like she had her little brother back.

Raven then did something that Qrow didn't expect; she reached up and pulled him into a hug, "Thank you, little brother."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever," Qrow tried to play it off, "Don't you have a reputation to uphold or something?"

Raven like go and out glared at Qrow, "I give you a hug for the first time since we were eighteen, and that's all you had to say?"

"It's just creepy, you not the affectionate type," Qrow said before suddenly turning back into his bird form and flying away.

"Oh, you think you can run?" Raven flew right after him.

* * *

Naruto wasn't at all surprised to find himself being escorted to Headmaster Ozpin's office, he expected it to be honest, and by Glynda no less. She'd been less than impressed by Naruto's methods of saving Ruby from the swarm of wasps, but understanding enough to not outright punish him. Although, Ozpin had requested for Naruto to come to his office to clear some things up about the whole incident. Naruto saw this as an opportunity to get a read on the old headmaster.

Glynda had been able to keep a stoic facade the entire elevator ride so far, although she had yet to hold his gaze for any length of time. While her face revealed nothing, her unintentional physical reactions told Naruto so much more. Her face was slightly flushed from their closeness, which meant she was either attracted to him or, more likely, saw something she knew she shouldn't have. The bags under her eyes showed both a lack of sleep and a great amount of stress.

It was obvious that she was put in charge of monitoring his room, leading Naruto to believe she'd been with Ozpin long enough to earn his trust and was willing to do his dirty work. Yet, judging by the argument he overheard, Naruto recognized the fact that Glynda had a strong moral code. That fact could prove to be useful in the future.

The elevator doors opened with barely any sound and Naruto's gaze instantly locked onto Ozpin staring out a massive window overlooking all of Beacon Academy. His stance showed relaxation and control, as if he'd grown used to looking down on others from a position of power. The office itself even showed a specific type of ego; a man at the center of a complex machine, controlling it all.

"Headmaster," Glynda called, although Naruto had a vague suspicion Ozpin already knew they'd arrived.

"Thank you Glynda, I'll take it from here," Ozpin dismissed without even turning around; Glynda hesitated for a moment before turning around without a word.

Naruto half turned to watch Glynda leave, making anyone watching believe he was checking her out, but in reality he was scanning the rest of Ozpin's office. He noted that there were no visible cameras, meaning there would be no record of anything said or done next. The slightly discolored sections on the wall, each in key positions around the room, suggested the cameras had been recently removed.

"Mr. Uzumaki, I thank you for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice," Ozpin said, turning around and motioning towards the chair on the other side of his desk, "Please, have a seat."

Naruto sat down without much hesitation, it was best to let Ozpin believe he had the power. Ozpin sat down a few seconds later, leaning his cane up against the desk, and locking eyes with Naruto. Both men regarded each other for a moment, as if having a silent battle of wills, before Ozpin finally opened his mouth to speak. His tone was even, betraying none of his emotions whatsoever and subsequently giving himself an edge over Naruto.

"Mr. Uzumaki, I take it that Ms. Goodwitch has told you I asked you to come here?" Ozpin asked, getting a nod from Naruto, "Good, then this means we can get straight to the point."

"And what would that be, headmaster?" Naruto inquired just as evenly as Ozpin.

"I'm well aware of what Team CRDL did while in the Foreverfall Forest, just as I'm aware the lengths you went to save young Ms. Rose's life. While I applaud you for your quick thinking and willingness to put yourself in danger for a fellow student, the actions you took after the fact have also come to my attention," Ozpin further explained, pulling up a recording of each member of Cardin's team, aside from the team leader himself, telling whoever was recording that Naruto had seemingly attack them for no reason.

Naruto's first response, the Branwen response, was to smash the very table the holographic screen was projecting itself from, but he kept his cool and didn't even so much as twitch. Instead Naruto leaned back in his chair, crossed one leg over the other, and interlocked his fingers in front of him.

"Do they have any proof to back up the statements, they've already attacked one of my friends after all. So who's to say they couldn't be making this up as well?" Naruto asked.

"Mr. Uzumaki," Ozpin sighed, almost dramatically, as he removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Allow me to be quite frank. Mr. Winchester's father, a very prominent member of the school board, doesn't care if they're lying or not. He believes the you have attacked his son and his son's teammates, so in return he is requesting you be expelled from this Academy."

"Then why am I still here?" Naruto could still complete his mission even if he was expelled, he knew the security systems well enough to at least get back into the school from the outside.

"Because I have not deemed it necessary to act on one man's selfish desires."

"Then I should be grateful," Naruto smirked just a little bit, for only a split second, but he was sure the headmaster called it.

"However, this does not mean you'll get off scot free. Even if it was outside school grounds, even if they did have it coming, you were out of line in attacking them. Instead of accompanying your team back to the transport, as you should have, both yourself and Ms. Belladonna sought out your own form of justice."

"Do you have any proof?" Naruto inquired, tilting his head ever so slightly, "Because at this point, it would be my word against theirs."

Ozpin narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, any other student would have backed down and accepted his judgment. Even the most stubborn of students. Naruto caught an odd site out of the corner of his eye; the curved top of Ozpin's cane glowed a slightly greenish color before fading away.

"It is either my punishment, Mr. Uzumaki, or the punishment of Cardin Winchester's father," Naruto felt a soothing feeling wash over his body, compelling him to agree with Ozpin despite the absurdity of it.

"If that's all, headmaster," Naruto began as he stood up from his chair and stuffed his hands into his school uniform's pockets, "I have a friend to check up on. If the father of that bully really wants me gone, for supposedly beating up his son's teammates, then he can come here and tell me himself. Otherwise, I have a very harsh world to prepare to defend."

Naruto turned around and began walking away without a second glance, fully aware he was gambling with the situation. If the threat was real then his mission would become a lot more complicated, but the odds were in his favor. So far the only evidence of anything happening, was Ruby being attacked by a swarm of rapier wasps after being hit with a jar of sap. There was no foundation for them to remove him, not unless those four weaklings wanted to be charged with attempted murder and assault on a minor.

"Mr. Uzumaki, I urge you to reconsider and listen to what I have to say," another wave washed over Naruto's mind, but in the end he still pushed it away.

"Have a good evening, headmaster," was all Naruto said as he stepped into the elevator and sent Ozpin one last mocking smirk before the doors closed.

"Laying it on a little thick there, weren't you Oz?" asked none other than Qrow as he seemed to appear out of thin air, his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"Now you see why I called youin?" Ozpin asked as he slumped back into his chair, looking exhausted, "He was even able to resist my semblance, something that only few people can do and none of them quite so young."

"So that kid that almost got my niece killed, his father really want to kick Naruto out?" Qrow asked.

"No, he feels his son should fight his own battles and that this was a good learning experience for him."

"So what was the point of all that?"

"To see just what kind of person I've let in my Academy. You need to watch him closely, Qrow, he's very dangerous. If he is working for Salem, then we need to make sure he doesn't put Ms. Rose in danger," Ozpin missed the way Qrow's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Don't worry about it, I won't let anyone hurt my family."

* * *

Naruto arrived back in his dorm room not twenty minutes later, holding his scroll up to the scanner as the door slid open. Walking in, Naruto found everyone but Jaune and Pyrrha already there. Blake was once again lounging around on her bunk and Yang had once again taking over his. Noticing their team leader, and partner, enter the room, both girls stopped what they were doing and approached him.

"So how did it go, are you going to get kicked out this time?" Yang asked, glancing between Naruto and Blake since they were the only two to go after Cardin and his team.

"The headmaster tried to hold something against me, not to mention Cardin's father apparently wants me kicked out, but they have no real proof. So for the time being it looks like you guys are stuck with me," Naruto said with a big old smile, putting his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest.

"Well, since I know i'm not getting expelled, I'm out of here," Blake said, moving past Naruto and towards the door.

"Was it something we said?" Naruto asked, more than a little confused by Blake's sudden departure.

"Well now that we know we're not getting kicked out, you and Yang are probably going to celebrate by sucking face. I personally don't want to see my two partners make out while I'm sitting less than a couple yards away," Blake said, pausing at the door to glance back at the two blondes.

"You can always just join in, I don't mind sharing with my partner," Yang teased, getting an eye roll from the blackette.

"Blondes aren't my thing," was all Blake said before she was out the door, giving neither of her two partners a chance to tease her even more.

Naruto and Yang glanced at each other for a moment, looking back at the door to make sure no one was going suddenly come in, before they were suddenly on top of each other. Yang jumped up and wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck, her legs tightly around his waist, and wasted no time getting right to work. They broke apart after a long moment, panting ever so slightly with flushed cheeks.

"Is it weird that she knows us so well?" Naruto asked.

"Doesn't matter, I may tease her about joining, but there's no way I'm sharing you."

The unknown siblings shared a grin before getting right back to it, unaware that a few minutes later a figure was peeking in from the window just outside the room. Luckily the trees covered Blake from below, so no one would be able to see her spying on her own room, nor would they see her other activities. Maybe next time she would accept Yang's offer, just to see where it led to.

* * *

Jaune woke up in the infirmary with a splitting headache, aching ribs, and his eye now swollen shut. The first thing he noticed was Pyrrha sleeping in the chair next to his bed, but instead of feeling relief he felt nothing but guilt. Here his partner was, worried about him, when he didn't deserve it. He was weak, not strong enough to stand up to Cardin or anyone else. Worst of all, it was all his fault.

"_Throw the damn jar already and make sure you hit your leader. I want this to hurt him the most,_" Jaune remembered Cardin shoving the jar of sap into his hands before spinning him around and pushing him towards the top of the hill.

"_I'm not gonna do it!_" Jaune half whispered, half shouted, spinning around to throw the jar back at Cardin but found a mace right next to his face.

"_Do it. Now!_" Jaune felt his fear override his reason and spun around, the jar of sap flying from his hands before he could even look where he was aiming.

He heard the jar smash, but it wasn't Naruto he heard shout it outrage. Cardin just smirked before throwing the box of wasps.

"_That works to, nice thinking Jauney-boy! Hurt his little friends first!_"

The last thing Jaune remembered hearing, before a fist collided with his face, was Naruto shouting for everyone to run.

"It's my fault, it's all my fault."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

After a well spent evening having fun with Yang, with their clothes on this time, Naruto eventually found time to make it down to the infirmary where Jaune was waiting and Pyrrha was waiting with him. He entered into the surprisingly large room, which he thankfully hadn't returned to since his initiation into Beacon Academy, and found his redheaded teammate fussing over the bed ridden blonde. She was currently trying to inspect his black eye, not very gently mind you, and Jaune was rightfully trying to slap her hands away.

"Just hold still, I'm trying to put some ice on it," Pyrrha commanded, a bag of ice resting on the side of the bed while she was busy trying to hold Jaune down.

"Then just give me the bag already!" Jaune countered, jerking his head when Pyrrha accidentally grazed the darkened skin with her fingers.

"I tried that and you weren't doing it right," Pyrrha finally had enough of wrestling him and instead jumped up onto the bed and straddled him, pinning both of Jaune's hands with one of her own while the other one picked up the bag of ice.

"Am I interrupting something?" Naruto asked, finally announcing his presence, as he leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed and an amused look on his face.

Pyrrha's reaction was instantaneous, she practically leapt off the bed and was on the other side of the infirmary in a matter of seconds; her face was now matching her hair almost perfectly while she stammered out a shaky reply. Jaune, on the other hand, wasn't able to move quite so gracefully and instead found himself flailing out of his own bed, landed on the ground with a painful thud. The team leader just laughed, knowing that if he and Yang were in that situation then they probably wouldn't have stopped just because someone walked in.

"Naruto... w-what are you doing here?" Pyrrha stammered out, her muscles tense like an animal ready to make a break for it, "I-I thought you were with Yang and Blake?"

"I was with Yang but she had some homework for Mr. Port to catch up on and Blake's off doing her own thing," little did Naruto know the Blake had fallen off the ledge just outside their room and was currently hanging upside down in one of the trees, "But maybe I should come back when the two of you are finished?"

"No! No! No! I think Pyrrha is done here!" Jaune shouted as he slowly picked himself up off the ground, not wanting to be left alone with Pyrrha's wonderful bedside manner, and this caused him to miss the crestfallen look on his partner's face.

"Yeah," Pyrrha whispered, her embarrassment flawlessly shifting into mild depression while she moved towards the door, "I'll just head back to the room then. See you later, Naruto."

Naruto just nodded his head when Pyrrha walked past him, the automated doors opening and closing as she passed through; the girl really had it bad for her partner, for some reason. Honestly he didn't know what she saw in him, but that was her business.

"So," Naruto began, sitting down in the same chair that Pyrrha had once occupied, "How are you feeling? When we found you it looked like Cardin and his team did a real number on you."

"Well I can't really see out of my one eye and my sides hurt a lot. All I remember is gathering a bunch of sap for them and then Cardin's fist hitting my face," it wasn't a complete lie, Jaune took comfort in that at least, but it was hard not making his guilt painfully obvious to someone as observant as Naruto.

"It's that sap you gathered for them that put one of our friends in a lot of danger," the temperature in the room seemed to dropped several degrees at Naruto's words, Jaune's healthy eyes going wide as an ominous chill crawl itself up his spine like the hands of the Grim Reaper itself.

"I-I had no idea! I thought Cardin was just having me do all his work like he normally does and decided to just beat me up in the end!" Jaune was frantic now, hoping that Cardin hadn't revealed anything or, at the very least, Naruto would believe his own teammate's story over that of the bully like Cardin.

Slowly reaching out, Naruto rested his hand on Jaune's shoulder, "Relax, Cardin wasn't shy about gloating and he and his team got what was coming to them." although he did notice Jaune didn't ask how simple tree sap could put someone in danger.

Jaune let out a small sigh, a little surprised that Naruto was being so forgiving but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If he actually knew the truth, or gods be merciful if Yang found out, then there wouldn't be anything left of him to send home to his family. Still, he wondered about Ruby and if she was all right.

"What about Ruby, is she alright?"Naruto's gentle and caring face suddenly turned completely serious while his eyes sharpened like daggers.

"Why would you be concerned about Ruby? How do you know wasn't Weiss, Nora, or Ren?" Naruto's grip on Jaune's shoulder tightened somewhat, preventing the boy from pulling away when he tried, "Is there something I should know?"

"No, no, no! I was just asking!" Jaune tried to cover his slip up, mentally slapping himself for being so stupid, "That's all!"

"You're a horrible liar."

Jaune suddenly found himself pinned up against the wall by his throat, with Naruto's dagger now resting gently under his eye. Everything stilled, Jaune's mind broke for a moment, and the smile his leader was giving him was nightmare fuel.

"Now I'm going to give you a chance, just one chance, to tell me what really happened. I don't care what it is, I don't care about your involvement, but if you try to lie to me again then I'm going to send you back your family in pieces." Naruto threatened, making sure to whisper it quietly enough so that the audio sensors on the cameras couldn't pick him up and couldn't see him properly, but he was unaware of the wide green eyes watching him from the barley open door.

* * *

While Naruto was busy having his conversation with Jaune, Yang figured she would walk across the hall and check up on her little sister despite the fact that she really did have some homework to catch up on from the previous week. Thankfully her jacket covered up the still sensitive bites that now lined her neck; although she was proud to say that she gave as good as she got. She'd really have to do something special for her team leader, but that could way till after she checked up on Ruby. So with one last look in the mirror, making sure her hickeys are covered, Yang gave herself a saucy smirk and a wink.

Yang was standing outside of team RWNR's just a few seconds later and knocked on their dorm room door with all the gentleness that a brawler like her possessed. In other words she pounded on it repeatedly until somebody came running; that somebody just so happen to be Weiss. The white themed girl was as impeccable as ever; her hair combed into neat lines and held up in a ponytail on the side of her head, a clear contrast to Yang's wild blonde mane of hair.

"Can I help you?" Weiss asked, gritting her teeth together in annoyance, but was effortlessly pushed out of the way as Yang walked right into the room.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted, startling Ren who was in the middle of meditating and making Nora accidentally squirt pancake syrup all over her desk; completely missing the pancakes.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Weiss shouted, stomping over to the taller girl and glaring up at her, arms crossed across her not quite so developed chest.

"Looking for my little sister," Yang said without really even paying attention to her and was instead more interested in looking around the room.

"So you think you can just come barging in here!"

"Well me and Ruby share practically everything, I mean even most of her outfits used to be mine," Weiss's mind shut down for a moment as a mental image of Yang wearing her little sisters outfit flashed through her mind.

Although it should be noted that it was the current mature Yang wearing a far more revealing version of Ruby's outfit, not that Weiss would ever admit that. Especially when her father pounded it into her head that such thoughts were unbecoming of a Schnee.

"She's in the bathroom," Ren spoke up, wanting to get back to his meditation as quickly as possible and that meant satisfying Yang's curiosity, "She's been in there since the nurse got done checking on her."

"Has anybody checked on her?"

"I tried going in, I had to use the bathroom, but she threw a shampoo bottle at my face," Nora said as she took a big old piece of pancake, smeared it through the stirrup that covered her desk, and ate it in one big old bite.

"Alright then, time for big sister Yang to get to work!" Yang shouted, punching her fist into her open hand as she walked towards the bathroom door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Yang pounded on the bathroom door, hearing Ruby shout in surprise, followed by the sound of several items falling. The door flung open to reveal Ruby ready to rip into whichever one of her teammates just scared her, but instead she found her big sister grinning down at her.

"Hey Ruby, has going?" Ruby tried to slam the door shut, only for Yang's boat to catch it before working close completely, "Time for us to have a little sister to sister talk."

"Hey, if you're gonna talk then go over to your own room!" Weiss shouted in outrage, but was once again ignored as Yang forced her way into the bathroom before closing and locked the door behind her.

Ruby was wearing her pajamas, Yang noted as she watched her sister jump into the bathtub and slam the curtain shut. Instead of forcing the curtains open, Yang instead sat down on the toilet seat and crossed one leg over the other.

"So what's got my little sister so freaked out?" Yang asked straight out, going for the direct approach.

"Yang! Please just get out of here, I don't want to talk about it!" Ruby cried from her spot inside the bathtub, her cheeks a healthy shade of red as she tried desperately to get her big sister to leave.

"It couldn't be about getting hit with a jar, or even be attacked by those wasps. I mean come on you've taken on entire packs of Grimm with a big old smile on your face. Oh, I know what it is, you are embarrassed Naruto saw you and your undies!" Yang always did know the best buttons to push to get a reaction out of Ruby; it was a sibling thing.

"Shut up, you don't know how embarrassing that was! Dad said a boys aren't supposed to see you like that until you're married!" Ruby shouted, unaware of the slight grin that formed on Yang's face.

"And that's why I don't tell dad everything," Yang whispered to herself, "Oh stop freaking out, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. He saved you from getting hurt and it's not like you have a crush on him or anything. You're just making this awkward for yourself."

When Ruby didn't respond, Yang got a little curious. So, after gripping one side of the curtains as gently as she could, as to not alert Ruby of what was about to happen, Yang suddenly ripped them right open. Sitting there, curled up in a ball, Ruby's face looked like a nuclear bomb had just gone off on it. Normally Ruby freaked out when someone said that she liked a boy, especially Yang, but instead she just sat there like a bright red tomato.

"Oh my god, you have a crush on him." Yang whispered in disbelief, all thoughts of teasing having been shot right out the window and instead was replaced with the solemn truth that her little sister had a crush on the guy that she was currently with!

"You're so mean to me," real tears begin to form in the corners of Ruby's eyes, "I don't know why I feel this way. He's just been so nice to me ever since we both became team leaders. It's only been a week and he's already helped me so much!"

Yang let her teasing older sister personality drop and in its place came the comforting mother bear that was always there for Ruby. Ruby felt herself being pulled up onto the side of the tub and her face pressed into Yang's rather impressive chest while strong arms wrapped around her slender body.

"It's okay, you don't have to cry. I'm not mad and I know you're scared," Yang whispered as she stroked Ruby's short hair, remembering what it had been like for her when she got her first crush and actually recognized it for what it was.

It was sudden mood swings like this that made their dad think Yang was partially crazy.

"But what if he thinks I'm weird, what if dad finds out and gets mad at me? Dad was really strict about not liking boys until I am older and aren't you guys dating or something?" Ruby began to rapid-fire questions and Yang couldn't find it in herself to be all that upset, or maybe she just wasn't threatened by her fifteen year old little sister having a crush on her soon-to-be man.

"Dad's being overprotective and technically Naruto and I aren't dating...yet," that part was actually true, Naruto had yet to take her out on a proper date and Yang was quickly looking to correct that little mistake, "Besides, it's just a crush. That just means you admire him, that you look up to him, and that's okay. Everyone has a crush or ten when they are younger. This just means you're growing up."

"You're really not mad at me?"

"Ruby, I could never be really mad at you."

"Even if I baked him some of the cookies like what mom used to make, as a thank you?" Ruby tilted her head up to look at Yang, who just smiled and patted her on her head.

"Only the chocolate chip ones," Yang teased a little bit, knowing those are the only kinds of cookies that Ruby didn't end up destroying or eating herself.

"Hey, some of us actually live in this room and need to use the bathroom!" Weiss suddenly shouted from the other side of the bathroom door, getting an exasperated eye roll from Yang.

"She seems really bossy," Yang pointed out as Ruby dried her tears and just giggled.

"She's not that bad, and she even made me coffee one time."

"Sure, whatever you say."

Yang wasn't all that worried about Ruby's newfound crush. After all, she'd already gone so far and might go even further if the year keeps up the way it has. Now she just had to find a way to get her dad to approve, or maybe she should go to uncle Qrow first. Yang frowned slightly; would her mom approve of Naruto if she were still around?

* * *

Far away from Beacon Academy, outside any of the four kingdoms, was the ever foreboding Land of Darkness and the Grimm pools in which all monsters are born. The land was constantly submerged in night, red clouds seemed to give off an ominous glow across the land, and the shattered moon is ever present on the horizon. In this land there was a mighty palace called the Evernight, which spanned for a half a mile in every direction and stood almost as tall as Beacon itself. This was the home of Salem, magically built from the remains of her own home that she had once shared with Ozpin. The only form of light came in weakly illuminated candles and odd purple rocks that gave off an ominous glow.

The conference hall was where Salem found herself spending the most amount of time, with its massive crystal table surrounded by six wooden chairs and a grand chandelier hanging above it. It gave one of the best views of the land, overlooking the majority of the Grimm pools and even the main one in which Salem tried to kill herself in all those years ago.

Salem herself was actually in the conference hall at this very moment, her unnaturally red eyes glowing as she effortlessly conjured her magic to cast an illusion over the room itself. Where she once stood in the Land of Darkness, Salem now stood in a vast desert known to be the lands of Vacuo. Standing in front of her, frozen like a statue was Naruto Branwen himself but not as he was today.

His clothes were ratty, torn, and covered in sand. Yet he stood strong with an unbreakable look in his own scarlet eyes. Salem remembered this as the day she truly felt the depths of his power and knew exactly what he was capable of achieving. His power wasn't just to destroy. If that was the case then the essence of the Grimm killed by it would've come back to her. No, his power wasn't just to destroy; Naruto's power was able to completely erase anything it came in contact with. Salem had sent out Grimm after Grimm while Naruto was in the desert, testing his power more and more.

She even created new Grimm just to test him even more, imbuing some of them with her own magic to make them stronger or protect them, but none of them survived contact with his unnaturally destructive power. Some would've assumed it was his semblance as each one is different than the last after all. But even the most destructive of semblances had never managed to actually devour her magic. So it was then that Salem began to wonder if this unnatural power erase the curse that had bound her to life and what was this power to begin with?

"So much power, so much potential, and Ozpin let you slip right through his fingers. Your mother was smart to keep you away from him," Salem knew he couldn't hear her, this was just an image after all, but that didn't make her feel any less in charge when she stroked the image's cheek, "It's almost time for us to meet. Cinder will play her part well, her lust for power makes her rather easy to manipulate. So try and put on a good show for me."

The sound of a large door opening broke Salem's concentration, the illusion cast upon the room broke just seconds later, and the newest of her tools walked into the room. Adam Taurus wasn't someone that Salem would normally associate herself with, that's why she'd initially sent Cinder, but some plans had changed. The boy was young, brash, temperamental, and most importantly he didn't always think things through. It also helped that his obsession, one Blake Belladonna, just so happen to be one of Naruto's teammates. This was almost too easy, especially since she had ordered Cinder to keep all information away from the boy ever since she learned it herself.

"Adam, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," Salem spoke up diplomatically, rising from her chair and walking over to him with all the grace that a Queen should possess.

"So you're the one pulling that woman's strings, what do you want?" Adam asked, his facial features set in stone but it was clear he was very much unnerved by Salem's appearance.

"To fixing an injustice, of course, one I believe you have a great amount of interest in," Salem held out her hand and allowed red magic to coat it, Adam gripped his sword out of reflex but lowered it when he saw a familiar image form in the palm of her hand.

"Blake?" Salem could hear the surprise and anger in his tone, "You know where she is?"

"Yes and I also know your motivations for trying to find her; I can sympathize with them. I too was betrayed by someone who once said that they cared for me and now I'm giving you your chance at revenge," Salem chuckled as she stepped closer to the Faunus, "I just have one request to make of you."

"Name it."

"There's a man she's with, a man by the name of Naruto Uzumaki, and I want you to kill him. Although, I believe after watching their interactions you'll want to kill him anyway."

"You have a deal, now where is she?"

'All too easy,' Salem thought; this would be a good first test for Naruto and Salem couldn't wait to watch the show.

* * *

Back in the city of Vale, or more specifically the docks that everyone not a criminal avoided like the plague, Cinder Fall could be found lazily playing with a simple flame she'd formed in the palm of her hand. She had realized, after Naruto had so blatantly stood against her and dodged her attack, that she needed to learn to control this new power of hers to an even greater degree. Then there was her gut reaction to resort to violence when things didn't initially go her way. Sure some people can be controlled that way, Roman instantly came to mind, but some people aren't scared so easily.

"Well he did seem to enjoy flirting, maybe I should appeal to his more base instincts?" Cinder silently contemplated, manipulating the flame to grow larger before making it change shape into random objects.

"Your sent for me, ma'am?" Cinder just barely turned her head and glanced at the newcomer out of the corner of her eyes.

"Yes I did, Emerald. I have a special mission for you, one suited to your unique talent."

* * *

As Jaune finished telling what happened, what he had done, he couldn't help but fidget nervously as Naruto just stared at him with unblinking eyes. The sharp knife was still held loosely in Naruto's hand, resting on his lap but still able to be brought up at a moments notice, and for a split second Jaune thought his leader would kill him. This thought process was closer to the truth than he could possibly imagine and it would be far more painful than his simple mind could comprehend.

Naruto was half tempted just to make Jaune disappear one day, it would be so easy and he could even say a Grimm attacked the poor boy. Maybe that's what he should do, it's what he would've done already if he was still with the tribe, but he knew that would still raise too many questions. Plus it wasn't like they were all that different from each other in the betrayal aspect, at least at the base level. Jaune fell victim to peer pressure while Naruto was consciously manipulating all of them. So was it right to be upset with Jaune when he himself had come to this school for the sole purpose of infiltrating it and stealing something of significant value? Even his initial interactions with Yang and Ruby had been to blend in with the crowd of other new students.

"By all rights I should report you to the headmaster," that was a lie, Naruto knew the Ozpin wouldn't kick out Jaune unless he does something truly horrific, "Or at the very least inform the rest of our team as to what you've done."

"I know I messed up. I know I should have gone to you guys about this before it ever got to this point, but I just felt I had to do this on my own," Jaune tried not to sound like he was making an excuse, even though that's exactly what he was doing.

"Yes, you did mess up, and that's why I'm not going to tell the rest of the team what you did," Jaune's body physically slumped in relief, "Because you're going to tell them."

"What?!" Jaune shouted, not believing what he was hearing.

"You heard me. You made this mistake so it's time you act like a man and own up to it. I'll give you twenty-four hours to tell them and Ruby what it is you did. You will tell them, you will ask for their forgiveness, and you will accept their response no matter what it is. I'm not doing this to be cruel; I'm doing this to give you a chance to convince them not to despise you. If I tell them, if they hear from me and not you, then that's more than likely what's going to happen."

"I don't think I can, I'm not brave enough."

Naruto got up from his chair, hid away his knife once again, and pinned John with a soul piercing stare, "Then leave this academy and never come back, because if you don't even have the guts to do this then you'll never be a huntsman."

The blonde team leader then turned around and walked right out of the infirmary, allowing the door to shut behind him as he spotted Pyrrha leaning up against the wall with a shattered expression. Naruto kinda felt bad for the girl, bad enough to walk over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm assuming you watch the entire thing," it wasn't a question, all the facts simply pointed towards that statement.

"How could he do something like that? Why didn't he come to me for help, we're partners aren't we?" Naruto knew these questions were directed towards him, Pyrrha was questioning her own self-worth.

"Not everyone is strong enough to resist peer pressure, not everyone is a fighter like you or I, and you shouldn't question your own self-worth just because someone could've gone to you and didn't. Jaune is his own man, he's a big boy that can make his own decisions, and that in no way reflects on you," Naruto remembers those own words being spoken to him, once upon a time back when he was still with the tribe.

"But he's my partner, he should be able to rely on me," Pyrrha tried to counter, but it sound rather weak followed by a choking sob.

"No, you've been his partner but he hasn't been yours. Not to mention we've all only known each other for a little more than a week. Some of us may have naturally grown closer together, personalities matching in certain ways, but this is still just the beginning of our journey as a team. Now it's up to you to decide if you can forgive Jaune for what he's done, or not," Naruto took a few steps back, breaking the comforting physical contact he had with Pyrrha, and moved to continue on his way.

"Pyrrha?" the redhead hadn't even heard the infirmary door open, but the sound of Jaune's voice was unmistakable, "How long have you been out here?"

Pyrrha didn't answer him, just looking at him made her chest sting with betrayal. So instead she silently turned around and began walking away, her destination unknown. One thing was for sure, she had a lot to think about.

(Night)

Climbing to the very top of the school dorms once again, Naruto wasn't really all that surprised to see Raven already waiting for him. She looked a lot less stressed than the last time he'd seen her, which was only a few days ago, and that did make the blonde haired Branwen a little relieved.

"Have a fun tip out in the forest?" Raven asked with a bit of a smirk on her face, the same type of one Naruto himself often wore.

"I shouldn't really be all that surprised you followed me out there," Naruto sighed dramatically, sitting down next to his mother, "You used to follow me when I was younger and went into the forest for survival training."

"I remember the time you thought it would be fun to jump off a waterfall, you scared me half to death," mother and son just shared amused expressions.

"I remember you diving off after me and the lecture I got afterwards," Naruto snickered, "You didn't let me out of your sight for the rest of the week."

"Who said I stopped after a week?"

"You sound like a stalker, mom," Naruto said rather blandly.

"I'm a mother, it's my job to stock my children. Besides, you managed to escape from me for practically an entire year. That in of itself is rather impressive given I can teleport to anyone I have a bond with," Raven shot back just as blandly, a tense silence settling between them before they both burst out laughing again.

"So how is your tribe business going?" Naruto asked to change the topic than anything else.

"As well as can be expected, it's not exactly easy for me to move around the city and not have any authorities take notice. When I went back to the tribe they listed me as a known criminal and I was banned from all huntsman associations," Raven replied with a shrug of her shoulders, knowing that none of the local authorities would be able to catch her even if they wanted to and that there were only three huntsman in the entire city that could actually pose a threat.

"Well just be careful, I don't want to have to break you out of jail."

"Oh please, like any jail could possibly hold me for longer than five minutes. Plus that implies they'd actually be able to get me to the jail, which we both know they wouldn't. So what are you gonna do about that teammate of yours? I mean, you know how the tribe deals with traitors," Naruto's previously soft gaze suddenly turned rock hard, it reminded Raven a lot of herself when she was younger.

"I gave him an ultimatum, now it's up to him to decide what happens. Regardless of what he does, or what happens, he'll most likely still be on our team and I can't have someone that week slowing us down," Naruto replied with a hint of frustration in his voice, this was some of the harder parts about being a leader.

"I would suggest going to Ozpin, as ironic as that would be, but I take it you've already thought of that?"

"Ozpin already knows that Jaune faked his transcripts and is letting him remain at the school regardless. It doesn't make any sense, why is he giving Jaune so much leeway when any other student would've never even made it through the front gate," Naruto tried to focus his mind and come to an answer, but it felt like he was missing too many pieces of the puzzle.

"Well looks like you have two options presented to you. You could train the boy, beat some sense into him and actually give him a purpose in life. On the other hand, you could get rid of the problem entirely by dealing with him yourself, letting a Grimm deal with him, or by asking me to deal with him."

"Not so soon after my confrontation with Ozpin. I need to get clear of him, maybe even see about gaining his trust, before I do anything so openly drastic," Naruto let out a long sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Why does being a leader have to be so irritating?"

"It's not much easier being the leader of a tribe, especially a bandit tribe," Raven pointed out, sympathizing with her son's plight, "But at least in the tribe most problems can be solved with a fight or simply by me putting my foot down on a matter. That's one of the positive points of having power; other people of a tendency to listen to you no matter their personal preferences."

"Might controls everything and without strength you can't hope to do anything," Naruto quoted, actually getting a soft chuckle from Raven.

"I'm surprised you still remember that, I only ever told it to you once when you were five."

"How could I ever forget, I used to believe the good guys always won just because they were good and the bad guys were bad. It was that day you showed me the truth, that strength and will are the only two things that inflict any real change."

"You're going to make a strong chieftain one day, little wolf."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Naruto had been true to his word and given Jaune a full twenty-four hours to confess what he'd done to both Ruby and his own team. The blonde Branwen was actually surprised Jaune had the fortitude to go through with it, but that didn't change everyone's reactions to the truth. Weiss having delivered such a vicious tongue lashing that, as Naruto observed them from the shadows, even his feelings were hurt. Yang matched Weiss' wrath but went about it in a more physical manner, resulting in Jaune now having a matching black eye and possibly the inability to ever have kids. Blake's response was a bit more subtle and really just ended up with the blackette being much colder to the wannabe knight. Yet it was Ruby that surprised everyone by accepting Jaune's apology just moments after hearing what had led up to the whole incident.

That's not to say Ren and Nora didn't get their own pound of flesh, with Jaune walking away from Ren with a _very _pale face and Nora promising to break his legs if he ever did something like this again. They would have likely gone much harder on the blonde had Ruby not walked in at that exact moment.

Now a whole week and a half later, after Jaune was fully healed of injuries both old and new, the whole team gathered for their early morning workout. Two among them were noticeably irritated by a certain knight's presence but had yet to really voice their frustration. Jaune himself had been resigned to basic exercises since his family's weapon was still little more than scrap at this point.

"Jaune," Naruto called out before the boy could get started, "Come up here for a moment."

"Haven't I been beaten enough?" Jaune grumbled yet approached the elevated fighting ring regardless, although that didn't mean Naruto hadn't heard him anyway.

"I'm not going to beat you," Naruto pulled out a simple wooden training sword shaped just like his own katana, something he'd picked up while in the city, "I'm going to teach you how to fight so you're no longer holding the team back."

Naruto tossed the sword at Jaune and watched, with a rather amused expression, as the boy fumbled in trying to catch it. Once Jaune was ready, Naruto pulled out a matching training sword and approached his fellow blonde.

"I know how to fight, I'm just not good at it," Jaune said, only to yelp when Naruto smacked him in the arm.

"Everyone knows how to fight on some level. What I'm going to do is teach you how to fight and not die." Naruto explained, "Now hold your weapon as you normally would if you were about to go into a fight."

Jaune did as he was told, albeit a bit reluctantly, and settled into the stands he normally used when he still had his sword and shield. His feet were spread apart, yet on the same line instead of being staggered, and the sword was being held more like a club or a bat than anything else. Naruto just shook his head and approached his teammate, keeping his own training sword in a non-threatening position.

"You not holding a club or a bat, holding it like that is just going to impede your movements and make it more difficult for you to use the weapon," Naruto said as he began adjusting Jaune's grip while explaining it to him, "you want to grip it in your hand at about a 40° angle. Gripping it firmly with the pinky and ring finger, and then a little bit more loosely with the middle and index finger. It's the same for your rear hand, but also make sure to have the proper amount of distance between your two hands while still maintaining a 40° angle."

"But I don't use this to fight, my sword is straight, not curved, and I normally have my shield with me," Jaune argued but Naruto just shook his head.

"You're sword and shield are broken, for the time being this is your weapon. Even a simple piece of wood can kill someone as easily as a sword if you have the right kind of training. Now let's move on to your stance, or the lack of one."

Naruto spent the next fifteen minutes correcting both the minor and major deficiencies in Jaune's stance while the rest of the team went about their own personal training. They naturally glanced over from time to time, Pyrrha more so than the others, but didn't make any comments on the matter. Yang was the one that paid the least amount of attention to Jaune, just looking at him almost sent her into a rage these days, and instead she slammed her fists into a punching bag with increasing ferocity.

By the end of the fifteen minutes, while it wasn't perfect, Jaune's stance was at least passable for the most part. It would take many more lessons for Jaune to feel comfortable in this new stance, especially since he'd been doing it wrong ever since he first took up his family sword and shield.

"Now we can get into the meat and potatoes of wielding a sword, how to properly swing it. Tell me something, do you know the purpose of most fighting styles?" Naruto asked as he took his position across from Jaune, but still had yet to raise his own weapon.

"To kill things?" It was more of a question than an actual answer, but Naruto would let it slide for now.

"No, that is simply the end result. The purpose of most fighting styles is to end the fight as quickly as possible. It's not like how you see in the movies, were a fight is drawn out for thirty minutes and you have two fighters clashing swords over and over again. A fight like that only happens with two people of equal skill cross blades. Other than in those moments, a fight is over rather quickly. Now, follow my movements exactly as you see them," Naruto ordered, taking a stance that somewhat mirror Jaune's but, to the trained eye, his was much more refined.

Naruto slowly brought the training sword up over his head, with the weapon itself perfectly in line with the rest of his body. He then brought it down like he was casting a line from a fishing rod, by pulling it down more so with his left hand, much like a lever until it would have made contact with an average sized man's head or shoulders. Before simply dropping down into a relaxed horizontal position.

Jaune did his best to copy Naruto, but he still looked more like a lumberjack trying to split a log in two. Naruto just shook his head, noting how tense Jaune was with his every movement. It would take time for him to get comfortable, but Naruto wasn't in any great rush.

"Your back and shoulders are too tense, and it makes your movements sluggish and you give the appearance that your muscles are stuttering. Tried again," Naruto ordered, moving to one side to watch Jaune's movements from a different perspective.

For the next thirty minutes Naruto instructed Jaune to do the same movement over and over again, making minute changes every so often, and by the end of it the boy could barely even lift his arms. He didn't have the endurance to do the same strikes over and over again for long periods of time, with only a few seconds in between sets. So it was no real surprise to anyone that Jaune was now a sweating mess with shaking arms.

"That's enough for now. We are going to move on to something else," Naruto turned and jumped off the platform, completely ignoring the sound of Jaune groaning.

"Please tell me I don't have to swing this thing anymore."

"You won't," Jaune actually looked a bit happy at those words, "Because you'll be too busy dodging my strikes."

"What?!" Jaune cried, his eyes going wide with panic when he saw Naruto walked back with a thin piece of metal no wider than a quarter-inch.

"Your reaction time is horrible in your hand eye coordination is worse. There are simpler ways to go about improving these attributes, but nothing quite motivates someone to improve like the feeling of pain. So here is what's going to happen. I'm going to swing this at you and you can either block it or move out of the way."

"What kind of training is this? If I want to get beat up I would just hang out with Cardin again!" that was the wrong thing to say.

"Then maybe you should," Yang spat as she hit the punching bag with enough force to bust a hole right through it, "After all, you both like bullying little girls."

Jaune look like he just been struck, which he was seconds later when Naruto hit him right in the thigh. The pain seemed to knock Jaune a back to his senses because he did jump out of the way of Naruto's next swing, a swing that would've smacked him right in the face.

"You also need to learn how to focus and not be distracted so easily."

* * *

The day had once again come to an end far faster than Naruto thought it would, or maybe he just wasn't as focus today as he normally was. Although, to be fair, listening to lecture after lecture about the behavior of Grimm could put even the most diligent of students to sleep. Even though it was rather funny when Yang fell asleep, leaning back in her chair, and ended up falling out of it when she leaned back to far. The entire class had turned to look at her at the same time, even Prof. Port seemed to raise one of his bushy eyebrows, but Yang just smiled and waved.

"You know, you still haven't taken me out on a date yet," the sound of Yang talking to him brought Naruto out of his thoughts, in which he turned to look at his fellow blonde as they made their way towards the dining hall.

"What brought this up?" Naruto asked, tilting his head ever so slightly.

"Well I was just thinking about all the fun stuff we do and I realize that we never actually went out on a date, we kinda just jumped ahead a few steps," Yang actually looked a bit nervous bringing this up, if the way she was scratching her arm and looking anywhere but at Naruto was any indication, "I mean if you don't want to, and that's all right, but I just thought."

Whatever Yang was about to ramble on about next was cut off when Naruto grabbed her and gave her a nice kiss in the middle of the hallway. A few of the onlookers gave out loud catcalls and shouts of approval, but Yang was too busy being stuck on cloud nine to notice. When they did finally pull apart, Naruto made sure it was only their lips that weren't touching and held Yang close.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're cute when you ramble?" Naruto teased as he stepped away and continued on the path to the lunchroom, "Let's schedule it for this weekend, when we have some more free time. Besides, maybe this will motivate you to actually get your homework done before the weekend."

"Mama likes," Yang purred before noticing that Naruto was still walking on without her, "Hey, wait up!"

Arriving at the cafeteria, Naruto and Yang found they were the last to arrive out of their small group of friends. Ruby noticed them first and gave her usual energetic wave, which nearly smacked Weiss in the face.

"Yang, Naruto, what took you so long?!" Ruby shouted as the twin blondes sat down on either side of her, with Yang practically shoving Weiss over.

"Sorry, someone needed to have a quick lecture about falling asleep in class and I had to stay behind as well since I'm the team leader," Naruto explained with a shrug, not really caring about being held back.

"Yep, that sounds like Yang alright. Dad had to do the same thing when Yang bit the lunch lady one day," Ruby giggled, getting a betrayed look from Yang.

"Betrayed by my own sister, what a cruel world!" Yang cried dramatically.

"Well how else am I supposed to learn all of your embarrassing stories? Besides, what better source of information could I get that in your own little sister?" Naruto said, patting Ruby on her head like she was a little puppy.

"Ruby," Ren spoke up for the first time since Naruto and Yang sat down, "Weren't you going to asked Naruto something?"

"Oh yeah!" Ruby's eyes widened in remembrance as she turned to look up at Naruto, "We were wondering if we could train with you guys after our classes are done? I mean Yang was telling us about how awesome you guys are and we wanted to see it for ourselves."

"Sure, I don't have a problem with a little bit more training today, but not so sure about the others. They pushed themselves pretty hard this morning so they might not be up to it."

* * *

Cardin Winchester was not someone who lacked confidence in himself, most would even go so far as to say that he was arrogant and prideful, but that had all changed since the incident the previous week. His teammates are still the same, arrogant, pompous, and boisterous, but Cardin seemed to have retreated into himself. His mind kept echoing back to Naruto's words, the truth behind them stung more than anything Cardin had ever experienced, and his mind hadn't recovered from it.

Now here he sat in the lunchroom, his untouched tray of food now having gone cold while he was too busy being deep in thought. His teammates had also found his behavior to be strange, since he didn't even so much as pick on the Faunus that had bumped into him earlier today. Normally he will snap at the creature, but he just kept on walking like nothing had happened. Then, like sharks smelling blood in the water, Cardin's teammates began to act out against him.

"Well look who just walked in," Russel snorted, jerking his head over in the direction of Naruto and Yang; who just sat down with the rest of their group of friends.

"Maybe we should go teach him a lesson," Sky sneered, now holding more than a personal grudge against Naruto, "That lowlife doesn't even deserve to be at this school."

"Then you all can go and get your asses handed to you again, I'll just sit here and watch," Dove spoke up, taking a bite of whatever it was they were eating that day but otherwise not getting involved.

"What you think, Cardin?" Sky asked, turning to look at as team leader but once again finding him deep in thought, a disgusting scowl appearing on his face, "Hey, are you even paying attention?"

"Just ignore him, he's been like this all week," Russell scoffed, having become more than fed up with Cardin's lack of interest in almost everything.

"What, just because Uzumaki beat him? So what, he beat all of us."

"That's not the point, Sky. I'm thinking he's not as tough as he used to be. Maybe it's time for someone else to lead our group," Russell whispered, although everyone besides Cardin seemed to hear him.

"And that would be you?" Dove asked, "You're the weakest out of all of us and Cardin is still physically stronger than most of us. Remember what happened when you tried to lift his mace?"

"Shut up man! At this point a stupid Faunus would make a better leader than him! He doesn't even do anything anymore!" Russell snapped, suddenly shooting up from the table and unintentionally smacking right into another student.

This student just so happened to be a fox Faunus, a female one at that, and one from their year no less. Her tall white ears clashed against her naturally black hair, along with the bushy fox tail that stuck out from a special hole in the back of her skirt. She was actually rather average looking, with the exception being her bright blue slit eyes that almost seemed to have an unnatural glow about them.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" the fox girl growled at Russell, having just nearly spilled her tray all over herself.

"Are you talking to me, you filthy little animal!" Russell snapped back, reaching out and grabbing the Faunus by her long ears and roughly pulling on them, earning a yelp.

It was ironic that this was what snapped Cardin out of his thoughts, although his gaze instinctively shot over to where he somehow knew Naruto would be watching. Sure enough Naruto was watching, a frown on his face while his red eyes narrowed in the dangerous slits. Yet it wasn't fear that Cardin felt, it was annoyance at Russell.

"_His might upholds the week,_" Naruto's words suddenly echoed through Cardin's head, "_That you would spit upon their very name with your actions. Didn't you all have a code? Something righteous or a standard to live up to? Do you even know it?_"

Cardin was on his feet in a matter of seconds, his hand closing around Russell's wrist like a vice grip. Russell let out a cry of pain as his wrist was nearly crushed, making him let go of the Faunus girl's ear while he was forced down onto one knee.

"Stop making a fool of yourself," Cardin bit out before his gaze turned to the fox Faunus who was nursing her ear, "Are you all right?"

"Y-Yeah, t-thanks," everyone at heard of Cardin's reputation for picking on Faunus, most had even seen the way he treated that velvet girl before Naruto got involved, so this is like something right out of left field.

"You should probably get back to the rest of your team," Cardin said before he began moving towards the exit, dragging Russell with him while Sky and Dove were quick to follow.

The entire cafeteria was silent before Yang seemed to sum up everyone's thoughts with two simple words.

"The fuck?"

* * *

**So yea, this is a bit of a short chapter this week. Couldn't really find the motivation to fit anything else in. As always I'm open to ideas and other such things.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Team RWNR had slowly built up a reputation as fast hitting fighters, choosing to use hit-and-run tactics in all of their fights, aside mostly from Nora. So many people wondered what happened when Team RWNR fought someone, or something, that was able to stand up against their tactics. Team NYBJP just so happened to be that something, or more specifically their team leader. Naruto had the reflexive speed to fight Ruby, the blade skills to fight Weiss, the physical endurance to fight Nora, and the hand-to-hand combat skills to fight Ren. They each found this out the same way the Naruto's own team did, by fighting him one on one.

"All in all, you guys aren't half bad," Naruto commented as he took a drink of water from his canteen, having worked up quite a bit of sweat and even unbuttoned his shirt a little bit.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Nora shouted as she jumped to her feet with a newfound energy, "No one's ever been able to take a hit from my hammer and just walk it off like that! You must be one tough dude."

"Not really," Naruto chuckled as he scratched the back of his head, "I've just taken more than a few hits from Yang and I've fought people that have used hammers for a weapon before, that's why I made sure to get hit by it before you could build up enough momentum to do any real damage."

"Still, I guess this shows we still have quite a ways to go," Weiss grumbled to herself, her pride taken a hard hit after being beaten by another sword user, although she should have expected it considering Naruto was the leader of Pyrrha Nicos.

"That's why we do training, because one day I'm gonna kick your butt Naruto!" Ruby declared dramatically, although Naruto found it more cute than anything else.

"You hear that, Yang, your little sister is going to beat me up. I might need your protection here," Naruto joked with his partner.

"Silly Ruby, only I'm allowed to beat him up," Yang said, walking over and patting Ruby on her head like she was a little puppy.

"How did you get so strong though, you're the same age as us?" Ren asked, nursing his nearly dislocated shoulder.

"You might be surprised to hear this, that there are fighters out there that are younger than Ruby but stronger than me. The world's a big place outside the four kingdoms, big and unknown. I got strong to protect my family, so I wonder what your guys' reasons are."

"I say we go again, but this time all of us against Naruto!" Ruby declared, getting more than a few surprised looks from both teams.

"Doesn't that seem a little unfair?" Weiss asked.

"It'll be the four of us against just him," Ruby countered.

"I meant unfair for us you dolt, were all beat up and he's just a little tired!"

"I'm up for it," Ren spoke up, followed by a vigorous nod from Nora who had already picked up her hammer.

"Why did I get put on a team with a bunch of crazy people?" Weiss asked herself, resigned to the fact of fighting again even though her body already hurt from the last beating.

"As much fun as that sounds," Naruto cut them off before they could get too hyped up, raising his hand to signal them to stop, "I do have my own homework to do and I'm pretty sure Ms. Goodwitch would skin me alive if I put off doing it for another week."

"And you say I'm bad about doing homework," Yang teased, only to get a dramatic eye roll for her efforts.

"You forget to do it, I consciously choose to wait till the last possible moment," Naruto shot back as he jumped off the raised platform and begin walking towards the locker rooms, "Besides, I'm wondering how far I can push Ms. Goodwitch until she finally snaps at me."

* * *

While Naruto's life continued in the heart of Vale, someone else very important to his life went about their day on a little island named Patch. Taiyang Xiao Long, single father of two beautiful daughters, widower of Summer Rose, and ex-husband to Raven Branwen could be found attending the little garden his second wife planted before her untimely death. It was the last real connection he felt he had to Summer, especially since Ruby had gone off to Beacon Academy and he now had the house to himself.

Thinking of Summer also eventually led to Tai thinking about Raven, the mother of his firstborn daughter and now deceased firstborn son. He spent a long time being angry at her, first for sneaking off in the middle of the night with his son and then the news that his son had died while on her watch. She at least came to tell him personally, presenting him with the slightly blood stained blanket that Tai had given to his little Naruto. That was actually the first time Tai had ever hit a woman, with a full powered punch no less, but it was even more surprising when Raven just let him. He had no illusions about the woman's ability to beat him senseless, it had been one of the reasons he was attracted to her in the first place, and yet she didn't try to defend herself in the slightest.

Tai had been a wreck after that, to the point that even Qrow came around to take care of Yang while he was going through a wave of self-loathing and anger. Then Summer came around one day, all sunshine and smiles, and practically dragged him out of his own house.

"_You need to get outside and get some sun, even your hair is starting to turn white,_" had been her excuse, but Tai had not been in the mood.

He remembered saying some rather hurtful things, it also didn't help that he was already drunk, but Summer just let him vent out all his frustrations before he collapsed into a crying wreck. From that day forward Summer lived with Tai, sometimes Qrow when he decided to come around, and practically became Yang's mom. Then, just a little while later, they wound up getting married and having another child. Although, Tai could've sworn he'd seen a raven flying overhead during the reception.

It had taken some time, and a lot of self-restraint, but eventually Tai stop blaming Raven for what happened, at least somewhat. He was still a little bitter that his son was taken from him, but he no longer blamed Raven for his death; Qrow said that she did that enough for both of them.

"I wonder what you would've grown up to be like," Tai said to himself as he gently patted the dirt around a baby rosebush, his mind flashed with an image of a smiling blonde haired teenage boy with bright red eyes.

"He probably would've grown up to be a lot like you, with just enough of Raven in him to balance it out," Tai turned his head slightly and saw Qrow walking up, for once the man's infamous flask was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe he could've helped me keep a better hold on Yang," Tai let out a mirthful chuckle; it would've been nice to have someone else to help him rein in his very outgoing daughter.

"Or we'd just have two firecrackers running around, pulling pranks and getting into all kinds of trouble," Qrow pointed out, taking a seat on a nearby bench while Tai got up and joined him.

"I think that would've been fine as well, I wouldn't have minded all that much. Then Ruby would've had a big brother watching out for her."

"Well you would never have to worry about her dating boys, not with two overprotective siblings watching out for her."

Tai suddenly got a serious look on his face, "So what brings you around, Qrow?"

"What, a guy can't just pop by and check in on his brother-in-law?" Qrow tried to play it off, but Tai clearly wasn't buying it.

"Qrow."

"Fine! You're so paranoid," Qrow grumbled, "Ozpin's called me back to Beacon for a while, to keep an eye on the place. Apparently something fishy has been going on and he's having me look into it."

"Are Yang and Ruby in any danger?"

"No more danger than they get themselves into, well more so Yang then Ruby. Besides, neither of them actually know I'm there and I plan on keeping it that way. If Salem does make a move, I'll make sure to get them out of their first," Qrow explained, getting a grateful nod from Tai.

"I know you will, that's why you're their favorite uncle."

"You idiot, I'm there only uncle," Tai grunted as his former teammates slugged him in the arm, but still grinned.

"So, as much as I fear the answer to this next question, has Yang shown any interest in a boy?" Qrow actually froze up at that, his mind instantly snapping to the fact that Yang was very much interested in a very specific boy.

"Nope," the answer came out a bit hasty, "Nothing that I've seen."

"You're a horrible liar, but I get it. She's more than past that age to be interested in boys, but I just hope she has better taste than I did."

"Hey now, I know Summer snored but she wasn't that bad."

"You didn't sleep next to her for so many years, and we both know that she wasn't the one I was talking about," Tai chuckled.

"You heard anything from her recently, it's coming up on the anniversary and she usually at least stops by?" Qrow already knew the answer to that, but he had to keep up appearances.

"Nothing yet, but I'll still be heading out to the grave next week regardless. You going to come this year?" Tai asked, noting the strangely focused look on Qrow's face.

"Maybe, it'll be nice to see Summer again."

"It always is, Qrow. It always is."

* * *

The life of an immortal soul wasn't something so easily described, which is why so many foolish people sought after it. That's why Ozpin, formally known as the warrior Ozma, had long since hid his true life stories from his allies. He'd experienced almost every pain known to man, from starvation to mind breaking torture that left him shattered for almost two lifetimes. Loneliness was his only friend for the longest time, and betrayal was no longer a bitter pain but a sad eventuality.

"You've been silent, Salem," Ozpin said, taking a sip from his mug, "Not one single move against me into lifetimes. What could you be planning this time, I wonder? The last time it was a simple assassination, one that nearly failed."

Could Mr. Uzumaki be Salem's latest weapon against him, or could her next attack come in a different form? Perhaps the latest wave of dust theft was the prelude to something he just wasn't seeing. He already had his suspicions about Amber's attackers, who had apparently somehow managed to steal a portion of the power within her. This wouldn't be the first time a third faction tried to join the war between himself and Salem, so he couldn't exactly rule it out.

Glynda had also been distancing herself from him lately, although Ozpin couldn't necessarily blame her. She was a woman of very high morals and had a strictness to her that very few people possessed, which is one of the main reasons Ozpin decided to approach her about the position that she now held. Still, perhaps he was a bit too hasty in viewing Mr. Uzumaki as a threat, or at least taking such drastic measures so early on.

"In the event that Mr. Uzumaki turns out to be nothing more than a very skilled student, as unlikely as that is, perhaps I should bring him into the fold as well. After all, Qrow isn't getting any younger and I'll need someone in my employment that can act behind the scenes."

This was another habit Ozpin had developed over his many lifetimes; talking to himself did help straighten his erratic thoughts enough for him to focus properly.

So, getting up from his desk and approaching the large window that overlooked his academy, Ozpin took another sip from his mug and allowed his thoughts to wander once more. Part of his mind drifted to the past, to happier times before his first death, while a more cynical part of his mind began contemplating who was most likely to betray him in this lifetime. Summer had already gone missing, he wouldn't believe her dead until he actually found the body, and Raven's own betrayal had been a serious blow.

"Raven, Raven had two children," Ozpin scattered mind suddenly zoned in with a laser focus, "Twin children, one of whom possess a great deal of destructive power at a young age. What was that boy's name, why does it seem so familiar?"

He only ever heard the boy's name after he'd been called in by Tai, after which young Raven had stolen the boy away and vanished back into the wilds. Qrow had reported the boy to be dead, but the man was far too easily fooled.

"Perhaps I'll look into this, it could yield something useful."

Salem had her weapons, Ozpin had four academies worth of his own. He didn't know how he would do it, but this would be the lifetime in which he completed his task and was finally able to rest.

* * *

Naruto let out a small grunt as he stepped out of the way of a massive Beowolf that came charging at him out of the thick Emerald Forest. With one quick and precise movement he took the collapsible spear from his back, extended it, and drove the pointed tip right through the beast's neck. The large Grimm went slack in an instant, not even having a chance to claw at the weapon that had slain it before it began fading away into black dust. It was Saturday now and Naruto had gotten permission, from Ms. Goodwitch no less, to enter into the Emerald Forest for some live training. Normally this was reserved for the older students, ones that had been at the Academy for at least a full year, but let it never be said that Naruto wasn't persuasive.

The reason for him coming out here was actually quite simple, if not necessarily needed. He simply wanted to stretch his legs against an opponent that actually came at him with the intent to kill. The students at Beacon always hesitated when it came to delivering a possibly lethal blow, not to mention fights were only allowed to take place so long as a fighter had aura. Don't these people know that Grimm won't care if you don't have aura anymore, or bandits, or even criminals?

A loud and challenging roar greeted Naruto's ears, drawing his attention to the large alpha Beowolf that had just stalked out of the forest with the rest of the pack behind it. Naruto just grinned as he leaned on his spear like it was a staff, mentally counting how many opponents he now had to take his mind off the mental torture of going to school to learn something he already knew how to do.

"Well," Naruto began, readying his spear by shifting it into its secondary mode, "Are you going to sit there all day, or attack me?"

Three of the normal Beowolfs charge forward with reckless abandonment, not being old enough to recognize the danger that was standing before them, and had their heads blasted apart in response. Smoke was now coming from the split spear tip, revealing that it was in fact a barrel, as Naruto lowered his weapon to reveal that it was a compact sniper rifle. The design itself was simplistic, with the scope being a part of the shaft, the shaft breaking apart near the end to form a stock, and a trigger flipping down right where Naruto could grab it.

The death of their kin spurred on the entire pack, including the alpha, but Naruto just grinned and shifted his sniper back into its spear form. Naruto managed to slaughter the entire pack, with a weapon he barely used, in just five minutes. If he was using his katana then it would've been over in less than sixty seconds.

"Banzai!" came a loud scream as a black and red blur shot right past Naruto and decapitated and Ursa that was unfortunate enough to wander into the area, no doubt having heard all the noise from the fighting.

Naruto laughed when the red blur wasn't able to stop fast enough and just about slammed into a tree, revealing itself to be Ruby Rose with her massive scythe dug deep into the ground as a makeshift brake. The little hyperactive blackette had practically begged Naruto to take her along when she heard about his impending trip into the forest, even going so far as to latch onto his leg and be dragged along when he first refused. Naruto could honestly say he'd never met someone that was both so good at slaying Grimm while also having such an innocent personality. The girl still proudly proclaimed she drank milk to grow big and strong, at the age of fifteen, no less.

"Careful there, Ruby!" Naruto called as more Grimm came charging, "The ideal thing to do when fighting large groups is to conserve your energy, so don't go using your semblance unless you really have to."

"Yes sir!" Ruby chirped, giving her fellow team leader a salute before ripping the massive curved blade out of the ground and transforming it into it's rifle mode, already letting off two rounds in the time it took Naruto to start running at the latest group.

Normal people don't normally go running down range when someone is firing their weapon, not only could they get shot but their presence could throw off the shooter, but Naruto trusted Ruby enough to not be all that worried. Even when rounds of dust fueled bullets when flying right past his head, to the point he could feel the air being distorted right next to him, Naruto didn't waver in the slightest. Naruto's red eyes seemed to glow for the briefest of moments as he ripped his katana from it's sheath just in time to cleave a Beowolf in half, the hidden vents on the blade sparking ever so slightly as the red dust inside of it was activated. The next Grimm unfortunate enough to be cut by his blade was also consumed by a violent flame that engulfed it in a matter of seconds.

"So cool! I didn't know your sword uses dust!" Ruby shouted, momentarily distracting herself from covering Naruto.

"Focus Ruby, don't let anything distract you while your in the middle of a battle!" Naruto called back while skillfully dodging an overhead clawed strike from another wolf.

"Right, sorry!" Ruby was quick to bring her weapon back up and blow a hole through the Grimm that had just taken a swing at Naruto.

"Good, now I'm going to draw them back closer to you. I want you to use your smaller size and speed to engage them without using your scythe."

"What?! That's why I have a scythe in the first place!"

"What about the times you aren't able to transform your weapon fast enough, or if an enemy keeps engaging you so you don't have the chance to. You can do it, Ruby, I believe in you," Naruto's last words of encouragement seemed to quell any more argument from Ruby.

It only took Naruto a matter of seconds to get back over to Ruby, the mixture of Ursa and Beowolfs hot on his heels, but the fifteen year old girl was more than ready. Naruto watched as Ruby blitzed forward, putting the barrel of her weapon right up to an Ursa's surprised face, and pulled the trigger. The recoil from the shot was strong enough to send Ruby high up into the air, which was clearly her goal because she then began raining bullets down upon the small horde with pinpoint fire. If Naruto was being honest, he was a little scared that someone so young was so good at killing Grimm, since not even he was so confident at such a young age.

Ruby landed on the ground in a crouch, reloading her weapon in record time, before vanishing in a shower of rose petals when a Beowolf managed to take a swipe at her. Ruby seem to reappear right behind the Beowolf, taking off its head with another round from Crescent Rose. This style of hit-and-run fighting continued on until the rest of the small horde was literally ash. Although it could also be said that Ruby was more than worn out, having collapsed onto her hands and knees after using her semblance so much in such a short amount of time. Honestly, she hadn't used her semblance this much since she fought off that pack of Beowolfs back on Patch, but even then at least she was allowed to use Crescent Rose's scythe form.

"Not bad Ruby, not bad at all," Naruto congratulated as he knelt down next to her and patted her on her shoulder, an act that would've earned him a slight blush if she wasn't so tired.

"I'm. So. Tired!" Ruby cried dramatically as she fully collapsed onto the ground, rolling over so she was looking up at the clear blue sky.

"That's good, tired means that your improving. This was a good little exercise for you," Naruto paused as he noticed something, a slight tint of red coming to his cheeks, "But you might want to pull down your skirt a little bit."

"Huh?" Ruby tilted her head up enough to see that her skirt had been riled up and her red polkadot panties were exposed to the world.

A few minutes of dramatic screaming later, in which Ruby showed she still had plenty of energy, and the blackette was curled up into a ball next to a nearby tree. Naruto just sighed to himself, she was getting so used to being around him, maybe he shouldn't have said anything. Although he really didn't know why she was freaking out so much, he'd already practically seen her naked with the whole wasp incident.

"Are you just gonna sit over there for the rest of the day?" Naruto called, standing a few yards away with his arms crossed and his cloak gently blowing in the wind.

"Maybe," Ruby mumbled, keeping her inflamed red face hidden from Naruto's gaze.

"It's not that bad, I mean it's not like I haven't seen you in an even worse state," those apparently were the wrong words to say as a small rock bounced off Naruto's head, his aura deflecting it easily.

"Don't remind me of that!"

"Alright then, but you can't let something like this bother you when you're in the middle of a fight? Because I can tell you right now that either fighting a Grimm, a criminal like that Roman Torchwick, or even in a tournament, they won't care," Naruto said as he closed the distance between them and knelt down in front of her, unknowingly giving Ruby the same look that Tai used to give her whenever he was being serious about something.

"But it's embarrassing," Ruby whispered.

"Then why don't we work on making sure you don't get embarrassed?" It should be noted that while Naruto suggestion didn't have any hidden meaning behind it, Ruby's mind instantly went to the gutter.

"How?" Ruby finally looked up at Naruto, her face completely inflamed, "How would we work on that?"

"We'll plan a special trip next weekend for both of our teams, I'm thinking either trip to one of the nearby lakes or maybe out to the ocean itself if we can convince Ms. Goodwitch," Naruto began, unaware of the slightly disappointed look in Ruby's silver eyes, "We can train in our swimsuits there and that should go a long way in helping you get over your embarrassment."

"Perv, you just want to see Yang in a bikini," Ruby accused.

"Well, you aren't exactly wrong," Naruto freely admitted, already knowing what Ruby was trying to do, "But who wouldn't want to see a bunch of cute girls in bikinis?"

"Y-You think I'm cute?"

"Of course you are, but enough sitting around and talking about such things. We have enough time left to go on one last hunt before we have to go back to the transport."

Ruby's face brightened up almost immediately, she could forget practically everything else the moment a fight started. Unfortunately, as she dove forward in a random direction and scattered into several petals, she once again ended up flashing Naruto.

"Gods help us all if she ever stops being innocent and winds up like her sister," Naruto grumbled, but began following his fellow team leader at a casual pace.

* * *

Upon arriving back at Beacon, their small transport coming in for a nice smooth landing, Naruto and Ruby were greeted by a member of their teams respectively. Weiss had obviously shown up to collect her partner, the look of worry on her face quickly being replaced by her trademark frown once they got close enough. While Yang had naturally shown up for her own partner and baby sister, who she practically tackled into a bone breaking hug. Naruto just stood there with a big ol smirk as Ruby tried desperately to get out of Yang's hug of death.

"So, how did it go?" Weiss asked, moving to stand next to the more tolerable of the two blondes.

"I've seen fully trained Huntsmen do worse," Naruto admitted with a shrug, "But, like all of us, she still has quite a ways to go."

"That's my baby sister, kicking ass and taking names!" Yang cheered as she continued to bury Ruby's face in her cleavage, completely unaware that said girl was slowly turning purple from a lack of oxygen.

"Um...Yang," Naruto tried to cut in, but his fellow blonde seemed to be in her own little world.

"She's going to pass out at this rate," Weiss helpfully mentioned, although she made no move to save her partner and was instead inspecting her nails.

"Your level of concern is truly heartwarming, has anyone ever told you that?" Naruto rolled his eyes as sarcasm dripped from every letter of every word.

"No, but it's nice someone appreciates me."

"Alright," Naruto cracked his neck and dramatically rolled his shoulders, "Yang, it's time to let Ruby have some air."

SLAAAAAP!

Yang practically leapt into the air when a firm hand came crashing down on her backside, meaning that Ruby was able to escape her sister's death grip and finally gain some much needed air. All the while Wiess felt her jaw drop in absolute shock and a blush creep up her neck, she had not been expecting that in the slightest. Naruto just kept grinning as he expertly dodged Yang's reflexive punch, although his jaw exploded in pain just moments later when a followup one slammed right into him. It would appear Yang was learning.

"Gah, you almost broke my jaw!" Naruto winced; he could have sworn he heard his whole face just crack.

"You slapped my ass!" Yang countered, her eyes flashing scarlet for just a second while her cheeks grew redder and redder.

"You were killing me with your huge boobs!" Ruby joined in, leaving Weiss to just stand there watching one of the strangest arguments she'd ever bore witness to.

"And suddenly my family isn't so weird," Weiss had no idea just how right she was, no idea at all.

"They are not huge!" Yang shouted back, "They're the perfect size for someone my age!"

"Weiss is your age and she's not that big!"

"Oh, you are not dragging me into this!" and suddenly Weiss got involved.

The argument continued on for quite some time, the four of them completely unaware of the two birds perched above them on one of the walkway lights. Apparently it was possible for birds to look exasperated.

* * *

**So sorry it took so long to write this chapter, it was a bit of a pain to schedule these last two weeks.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: The Date Part One**

Yang Xiao Long liked to think of herself as an unbreakable badass with great hair and killer looks, which of course meant she had a very outgoing personality and it took quite a bit of effort to get her worried about anything that wasn't related to her family. Teachers were no problem, she could take apart Grimm with her bare hands, and even boys were just one other thing she tended to tackle with all the subtlety of a Grimm in an antique store. So why was she practically having a panic attack at the very thought of not having the perfect outfit for her date with Naruto? Her school uniform was to formal, her normal outfit was to easygoing, and she only had an hour left to get ready. Thank the gods Blake agreed to distract Naruto for a few hours so she could get ready. However, desperate times call for desperate measures, in the form of none other than one Weiss Schnee.

"I'm sorry, you want me to _what_?" Weiss wasn't even being her usual condescending self, she was genuinely surprised that _Yang_ came to _her _for help; she even checked outside the window to make sure the world wasn't ending.

"Help me get ready for my date tonight, I'm losing my mind over here and you're the only person I can turn to," Yang looked like she was in pain just saying that.

"What's in it for me?" now that caught Yang off guard.

"What do you want?" say what you want about the Schee family, but there was a reason they rose to the position they now held in Atlas.

"A favor, of my choosing, at any point in the future. That's what I want," was Weiss' response, the smile on her face being far too innocent for the evil look in her eyes.

"What could I possibly give you that you couldn't get yourself?" Yang asked, more confused than anything else, but Weiss just shook her head.

"That's for me to know and you to find out, now do we have a deal?"

Yang looked to actually be considering it, before looking over at the clock and seeing she now had even less time. So, after grabbing Weiss' outstretched hand, Yang went shooting back across the hall in a blur of yellow and white. Poor Weiss nearly had her shoulder dislocated.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Yang said, sitting down on her bed and watching Weiss go through her clothes like Yang did when she look apart her bike.

"Didn't insult me, now go take a bath while I work," Weiss ordered, which just got her another confused look.

"But I already showered today."

"You've been working out and I can smell you from here, now shoo!"

"Yeash, fine,"

"Gods help me through this trial." Weiss whispered.

(With Naruto and Blake)

"So Yang bribed you to keep me distracted so she could surprise me on our date," Naruto summarized the last twenty minutes up as he stared at a bound Blake strapped to a tree, "I have to admit, it was a nice little plan of hers and I didn't suspect anything until you slipped up about it."

"Did you really have to tie me up though?" Blake asked with a completely blank look on her face, although her eye was twitching ever so slightly.

"You tried to knock me out when I put it all together, besides the knots aren't tight enough to do any real damage," Naruto shot back, having used Blake's own elastic ribbon to tie the blackette up in record time.

Blake at least had the decency to look away with a bit of embarrassment flashing across her face, "Yea, sorry about that, I just reacted and may have gotten a bit carried away. Can you please untie me though, my shoulders are getting a bit stiff and I've had an itch for the last five minutes."

True to her words, Blakes arms were bound behind her back from her elbows all the way down to her fingers themselves being tied together. The ribbon had then been tied three times around the tree before being wrapped twice around her torso and loosely around her neck. It wasn't causing her all that much pain, she actually found it a bit exciting to be tied up, but unfortunately she'd had an itch on the tip of her nose that was about to drive her mad!

"Hm? Alright then, I guess you did answer all my questions," Naruto admitted, standing up and moving to undo his handiwork, "Besides, I can't imagine a teacher would be impressed with me tying a cute girl to a tree. Who knows what they would think I was trying to do to you."

"Perv," Blake muttered, trying to hide the fact that such thoughts did flash through her head for a brief moment, "You've been hanging out with Yang for to long, she's starting to rub off on you."

Naruto finished untying Blake in record time, folding up the ribbon and handing it back to the blackette, "You're right, she is a bad influence on me, but at least I haven't been reduced to reading smut when I think no one is watching."

"It's not smut! Besides it's the only way to ignore the two of you making out in the middle of the room," Blake's eyes widened as she tried to defend herself, "I don't even like blondes anyway."

"I never said you did. Common, isn't it about time you take me back to the dorm for my surprise?" Naruto's teasing smirk made Blake just want to crawl under a rock and die, why couldn't Yang have asked Pyrrha to do this instead?

"You know she's probably freaking out right now, I don't think I've ever seen Yang look so nervous before," Blake pointed out, trying desperately to switch the conversation away from herself.

"Please, it's just a date and we've all been on those before, I'm sure she's fine," Naruto brushes off Blake's concerns with a lazy wave of his hand, the dorms already coming into view.

"So...have you found a place to take her?"

"Why, are you guys gonna follow us?"

"Please, I have more important things to do than follow you guys on your date," Blake scoffed.

"Like reading your smut?" Naruto shot back without missing a beat.

"It's not smut!"

(Back with Yang and Weiss)

"I have to admit, I'm impressed. I thought for sure you'd try to make me wear a dress or something," Yang said from inside the bathroom, hopefully following the rest of the white themed girl's instructions in regards to her hair and makeup.

"I would have if you even had a dress to begin with, if you'd come to me earlier then I'd have more to work with," Weiss admitted from her position on what she assumed to be Yang's bed, although it looked almost completely unused when compared to the others, "Don't forget to put on that eyeliner I set out for you!"

"Yeash, calm your tits, I'm not gonna forget!" Yang snapped, still a little stressed about the whole situation.

"So, what's your plan if Blake isn't able to distract him long enough?" perhaps a small change of subject would help the brawler calm down, or at least save Weiss from being punched.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that, I sent a message to someone that Naruto couldn't possibly get past, not after what I bribed her with," there was a sense of foreboding that creeped into the back of Weiss' mind, perhaps it was best if she didn't ask who would be strong enough to stop someone like Naruto.

"Are you sure, I mean we've both seen him fight before?" Weiss asked.

"Oh, trust me, he won't stand a chance! She's way too cute to hurt."

(Just Outside the Room)

"Ruby...what are you doing?" Naruto asked with equal parts confusion and irritation as he gazed upon Yang's little sister blocking his path.

No, that wasn't quite right, Ruby wasn't just blocking his path; she was standing right in front of his room with her arms and legs spread to each end of the door itself. She had also somehow wrapped chains across the door frame itself before they also wrapped around her arms and legs, ending in a voice activated lock hanging around her waist. Naruto was at a complete loss for words at this point, was Yang really going so far just to get ready for their date? Not to mention how was he going to get ready if he couldn't even get into his own room?

"Ruby Rose is no longer here, I am the Immovable Gate Keeper! None shall pass without knowing the magic words!" Ruby declared with a frighteningly determined look in her eyes, but Naruto just raised his eyebrow in mild amusement.

"Oh really, not even if I offered you all the cookies you could carry for the next week?" Naruto asked, watching as Ruby's poor little heart nearly broke right then and there.

"N-No! I am the Immovable Gate Keeper and no amount of delicious cookies will make me move! None at all!" Ruby's will held strong in the face of her greatest temptations; it was believed she would sacrifice the world for just a single double chocolate chip cookie.

"Ok," Naruto dragged out, a knowing look in his scarlet eyes as he turned to walk away, "I'll be right back."

As Naruto vanished around the corner, Blake watched in mild amusement as Ruby slumped against the chains she'd tied herself up with. The poor poor girl had no idea what she was in for now, especially when it came to mentally torturing people in the most humane way possible. For instance, Naruto had tickled Blake for quite some time before she eventually gave in, although at least he didn't discover her really sensitive spot hidden just beneath her bow.

"You know he's not giving up that easily, right?" asked Blake, crossing her arms as Ruby looked up at her with heartbroken eyes.

"I have to be strong, for Yang, and hold out for just a bit longer."

"Yea, I remember thinking the exact same thing," Blake turned her head away to hide her newly formed blush, she'd given in so easily.

"But you're one of the toughest people in our year," Ruby practically whimpered, wondering just what Naruto had done to Blake to make her cave in so easily, "What did he do?"

Blake's embarrassment rose to new heights, she couldn't let word get out about how she broke from being relentlessly tickled, her reputation would never recover! Her life as a Huntress would be over, no one would ever hire her once they found out! So Blake did the only logical thing, she flat out lied.

"He said he'd slowly burn all my books in front of me, with red dust no less, before painting all my clothes pink and shaving off my hair," Blake realized she was probably making Ruby more and more nervous, thus more likely to break when Naruto got back, but her reputation was more important.

"Oh no, what if he does the same thing to all my close, or convinces the school to get rid of all the cookies! No, I have to be strong! No matter what he does, I'm not going to break!" Ruby declared as she straightened back up and had a new look of determination on her face.

The sound of someone approaching caught both girls attention, although for Ruby it sounded like the Grim Reaper himself was coming for her. Her heart began to beat so loud she could feel it vibrating all the way up to her head, a single bead of sweat slid down her cheek. Finally, Naruto walked back around the corner, the lights above him gave off an ominous flicker and his red eyes almost glowed in the sudden flash of darkness. She couldn't believe what was held in his hand, he wouldn't dare! For in his hand. Was!

"Cookies!" Ruby cried, a bit of drool already escaping her mouth as her eyes lit up like stars.

"Yes, cookies," Naruto confirmed dramatically, shaking the unopened bag to prove that there were indeed cookies inside, "Are you sure you don't want to let me pass?"

Ruby's features tried to harden as best they could, especially in the face of her favorite food, "I'll never move!"

"Well then I guess I'll just have to wait out here until Yang is done," Naruto seemed to admit defeat as he sat down and casually rested up against the hallway wall, Blake choosing to sit next to him.

"Did you really think that would work?" Blake whispered, but the grin Naruto gave her sent a shiver crawling up her spine.

"Of course not, but I'm pretty sure this will," Naruto said as he gripped both sides of the bag and slowly peeled it open, making sure to keep eye contact with Ruby the entire time, "But since I'll be forced to wait here, I might as well have something to eat. It's a good thing you don't want these cookies, I was already craving something sweet."

Ruby's mind seemed to break for a moment as the smell of cookies grazed her nose, her eyes zoning in on the bag while her body reflexively tried to shoot towards it. Unfortunately she'd done to great a job in wrapping herself in chains and only managed to ensure she'd never reach her chocolate flavored desire.

"No! Please, give me just one!" Ruby begged, watching as Naruto slowly pulled out one of the cookies and held it right up to his mouth.

"You already know what you have to do to get the whole bag of cookies," Naruto began, taking a small bite as he did so, "So what will it be, will you let me into my room?"

"I can't, Yang already said she'd make me a whole tray of cookies if I stopped you!"

Naruto just grinned and shrugged, "Well then I guess you have your answer, which is a real shame. I also heard that they're giving out free cookies down at the cafeteria. Right. Now."

"You are a truly frightening person," Blake admitted.

"Trust me, it will just get better from here."

Naruto finished the cookie and one large bite, watching Ruby continue to squirm and let out a muffled cry when she saw the cookie vanish. It would seem he would have to go to more drastic measures to get past Yang's little sister. And he had a whole twenty-five other cookies in which to do so. So, after eating another cookie right in front of Ruby, Naruto got back to his feet and walked over so he was just out of her reach.

"Do you really want a cookie?" Naruto asked, Ruby's head shooting up so her watery eyes could meet his.

"Yes!" Ruby cried, only for her eyes to widen when Naruto actually held out a cookie right in front of her.

"Well, it's yours if you can reach it," Naruto teased, watching while Ruby tried to stretch out her neck as far as it could in a vain attempt to reach a baked treat that was just half an inch out of her range.

The little blackette even went so far as the stick out her tongue to just get a taste of it, but even then it was just out of reach. Blake herself couldn't believe what she was watching; it was like a PG version of Ninjas of Love and one of the bondage scenes. She actually felt her face heat up even more as images from the scene began to overlap with what she was actually seeing. Luckily those were cleared away with a quick shake of her head.

"What's the problem, I thought you wanted the cookie?" He taunted, moving the little snack just a bit closer.

"I can't reach it!"

"Oh, is that the problem? You know you wouldn't have that problem if you weren't bound in those chains," Naruto commented casually, reaching down and flicking the lock that was around Ruby's waste.

"But I don't have the key!" Ruby tried to defend herself.

"Ruby, I know what a voice-activated lock looks like," Naruto said with a sudden flat tone, his face almost asking if she thought he was stupid.

"Please, just a bite, just a little lick! This is torture!" Ruby finally snapped.

Naruto just rolled his eyes, his smirk becoming more and more sly, "Alright, you can have just a bite."

Ruby thought Naruto had just lied to her when he put a small portion of the cookie in between his lips, only for her face this suddenly go beet red when he leaned in really close to her face. Her nose twitched slightly and her mouth watered now that the cookie was within biting distance, but what was left of her rational mind stopped her. This was just like in that video she saw Yang watching that one time, the one that ended with a kiss. She wasn't emotionally ready for this! Not even for a cookie!

"Ruby is the best team leader!" Ruby suddenly shouted, the lock around her waist unlatching from the chains, before she turned into a swarm of rose petals and dove inside her own dorm room.

"And that," Naruto tilted his head back in ate the cookie in one bite, shooting the still blushing Blake a victorious grin, "Is how it's done."

"Okay then, I'm never siding against you again," although she wouldn't mind if he tied her up again, he was apparently very good at it.

"That's good to know," Naruto reached out and knocked on the door.

"_She's not done yet!_" Weiss called from the other side of the door, having listened to the whole situation and taken it the completely wrong way.

"Weiss," Naruto called warningly, taking the same tone he had just moments before tormenting Ruby, "Am I going to have to _make _you open the door."

"_Ha, what could you possibly do to me through a door?_" Weiss laughed superiorly, believing herself to be safe.

"It's not what I'll do to you through the door," Naruto began as he leaned up against the door frame and slowly dragged his finger down the middle of it, "It's what all do to you once this door is inevitably opened. Maybe your fancy clothes will be dyed a hideous green, or perhaps I'll put hot sauce in your toothpaste. The possibilities are endless and I'm a very patient man."

Blake was convinced now, Naruto knew their personality so well that he could get to them in the most intimate of ways without even being violent or aggressive. It was almost like the opposite of Adam, which just made Naruto all the more attractive in her eyes.

"_You wouldn't dare, those items cost more than you make in an entire year!_" Weiss shouted, banging her fist against the door.

"Maybe, maybe not, but do you really want to find out?"

"_It's all right Weiss, you can let him in now!_" surprisingly it was Yang that called out, although her voice sounded even more muffled than Weiss's.

The door was opened in a matter of seconds and Weiss practically shoved Naruto out of the way as she ran across the hall in much the same way Ruby had just done. Blake herself finally got to her feet, now that she was able to actually get into her own room.

"I knew they'd see things my way," Naruto laughed, walking over to team RWNR's door and leaning the bag of cookies next to it.

(Inside the Room)

Upon entering the room, Naruto and Blake found practically every article of Yang's wardrobe thrown about the room, including her more private outfits. While Blake was quick to go over to her bed, which was soon cleared off with one quick swipe, Naruto decided to walk over to the bathroom in which Yang was still hiding herself in. Only for the door to suddenly open, a strong hand gripping Naruto's collar, and the blonde being pulled right in before he could even react. Blake dove off her bed and ran over to the door, not a second later, placing her human ears up against it.

Inside the bathroom, Naruto found himself being shoved up against the now closed bathroom door with Yang now very much in his personal space. He was sure he was about to say something clever, he'd been on a roll almost all day, but Yang put a stop to that in the most effective way possible. A kiss that became so deep that neither of them knew who was breathing for who, but Naruto did note that Yang's mouth and tongue tasted like fresh strawberries. Naruto didn't know how long it lasted, Yang seemed to have that effect on him, but Naruto already missed the taste the very second they broke apart.

"I hope you didn't do anything to mean to my little sister," Yang was doing it again, acting confident and in control to hide her own insecurities, but Naruto couldn't find it in himself to care at this point.

"I'm sure she'll survive, although I don't think she'll ever forgive me for using cookies against her," Naruto's mouth formed into his trademark grin, his hands instinctively going around Yang's waist and pulling her right up against him.

"I picked out something for you to wear," Yang began as she trailed butterfly kisses down his jaw, "You can go ahead and get changed now, just don't take too long."

Yang pulled him away from the door and managed to slip through it before Naruto could even respond, which had gone from mildly amusing to somewhat concerning. Shaking his head a little bit, Naruto realized he'd been so preoccupied that he didn't even get a chance to see what Yang actually looked like. Although maybe that was a good thing, he kind of did like surprises after all.

"All right, let's see what she laid out for me," Naruto said to himself, glancing over at the neat pile of folded clothes that rested on the bathroom counter.

What had surprised Naruto was that the outfit didn't belong to him, or at least he didn't remember buying it. This could only mean one of two things, both of which amused him to a certain extent. Either Yang had brought Weiss in much earlier than just today, or Yang had gone out sometime during the week and actually bought him something.

It seemed to be as simple dark orange dress shirt, black vest, black pants, and some rather nice looking shoes, but the material they were made out of clearly said that it wasn't cheap. It was only upon further inspection of the shirt that Naruto noticed the slight glimmer of an off orange pattern sewn into the caller and around the cuffs. Now he really did have to make a first impression, and wonder if Yang was doing a little side work of her own to buy dust infused clothing.

So, slipping on his new outfit and folding up his school clothes properly, Naruto stepped out of the bathroom to the awaiting audience of his entire team. Pyrrha looked to be just getting back from studying, seeing as she still had the majority of her books in her hand, while Jaune looked like he just got back from the training area. Although, naturally, it was Yang that drew Naruto's smoldering scarlet gaze. Boy was he not disappointed in the slightest.

Naruto new Yang wasn't the type of girl to wear dresses, but that didn't mean he expected her to make her normal clothing look so good. Especially when it came to a slightly modified pair of khaki coveralls, with golden zippers that were unzipped down just below her breasts to reveal a white low–cut shirt. Although he did like the matching golden zippers around each of the legs that could allow the pant leg to be detached, especially with the belt that help connect each part. Over the coveralls she wore a baggy, black crop jacket with fur trim around the neck and three orange stripes going down each sleeve. She also traded out her normal boots for a pair of tall black ones with matching black laces. All this was naturally held together by her normal orange scarf still wrapped loosely around her neck while a new purple scarf wrapping itself around her right leg.

Then let's not even forget the fact that Yang had also styled her hair, for the first time since Naruto had met her, and it definitely suited her. While the majority of her hair was still free to run wild, matching her personality almost exactly, there were now two braids coming from either side of her head and wrapping around the back to keep the rest of her hair in a wild looking ponytail.

"Well now, this was definitely worth the wait," Naruto complimented, this time being more obvious in checking Yang out from head to toe, "I'm going to have to take you out more often now, just to see you look like this."

"What, my normal styles not good enough anymore?" Yang asked in a teasing manner, placing her hands on her hips and sending Naruto a challenging look.

"Allow me to put this in the most direct of ways," Naruto began while closing the distance between them, "You're normal look attracts me every time I see it, but this look makes me want to do unspeakable things to you."

"R-Really, because I wasn't really sure about the hair and these clothes weren't really my style when I decided to buy them. Plus the eyeliner..." Yang began to ramble on while the rest of the team just watched.

Naruto solve this problem in much the same way Yang had stopped him from making a smart comment, although he did make sure to keep it brief and PG. Although the slight giggle from Pyrrha didn't really help.

"You look beautiful, but we should head out now if we want to actually have time to do anything on our date," Naruto said, drawing a slightly confused look from Yang as they interlocked hands and made towards the exit.

"What are you talking about, the sun's still up?"

"Yeah, but if we don't get a move on then I'll end up dragging you back into the bathroom and do those unspeakable things to you."

The two were out the door a moment later, leaving behind their three remaining teammates and a rather awkward silence. Blake and Pyrrha shared a look before taking off out the door after the couple, although making sure to stay as quiet as possible. Naruto had ended up calling it, they were so going to follow them. Meanwhile Jaune sat down on his bed, pulled out his history textbook, and got to work studying.

* * *

Naruto would never say it out loud, but he often found himself wondering why there always seemed to be a transport ship available almost every time he needed to venture from Beacon to Vale. Even though there were a few other students aboard, no doubt wanting to go about having their own adventures while the weekend was still young, it still bothered him. Although, at this very moment, he found it rather difficult to think about anything other than the blonde sitting next to him with her head resting on his shoulder. He knew he was getting way to emotionally attached, especially since his mission involved him eventually stealing from Beacon and possibly breaking everyone's trust in him.

"You look like something is on your mind," Yang commented, not taking her head off his shoulder.

"Just thinking about something that's been bothering me since I got to Beacon, it's not all that important," Naruto replied calmly, a small smile playing across his lips.

"So, how long do you think it will take the others to catch up to us? I think we tricked them by switching transports at the last moment, but we both know how persistent they can be," both blondes had gotten a kick out of seeing both Blake and Pyrrha try this stealthily follow them, which was made even more funny when Ruby and Weiss joined them on their little quest.

"Well both transports are going to the same area, although ours will get their first. I'd say we got maybe ten minutes to get some distance before they come after us," Naruto was actually beginning to wonder just who else might be following them, because apparently that was a new hobby for just about everyone in his life.

The moment their transport touched the ground, Naruto and Yang bolted for the main road and flagged down a taxi. Naruto told the driver exactly where he wanted to go, paid the man in advance to get them there quickly, and settled back into his seat. Yang was constantly looking out the back of the taxi, waiting to see the telltale signs of their followers, but didn't spot any before the tax rounded the corner and went deeper into the city.

"Remember the last time we all went out into the city?" Yang's face lit up with a smile, which was followed by a snort of amusement from Naruto.

"How could I forget?" The male blonde asked, "I don't think I'd ever seen a man get beaten with another man, or witness a simple club get destroyed so fast."

"Yeah, great times, we should all do it again soon."

"Hopefully this time without the authorities coming after us?" Naruto raised his eyebrow as he received an impish look from Yang.

"Now where's the fun in that?"

"You're something else, Yang."

"You're damn right," Yang puffed up her chest proudly before the two blondes devolved into a fit of laughter.

The taxi did eventually came to a stop just in front of a rather quaint looking restaurant, not to fancy but not to common and just the way Yang liked it. The sleek walls, well built structure, and an overabundance of white paint clearly said that this was a place managed by someone from Atlas. Once they walked inside, Naruto and Yang were greeted by a nicely dressed woman, somewhere in her late twenties to early thirties, with modestly good looks and a pleasant smile.

"Good evening and welcome to the Red Dove, do you have reservations?" The woman asked politely, folding her hands on the small counter in front of her as a holographic screen appeared.

"Yes," Naruto answered just as politely, "Under the name, Uzumaki."

The hostess scanned through the list of names that had appeared on her screen, quickly singling out Naruto's fake last name and the picture that came along with it. Her look of concentration vanished and was once again replaced by a friendly smile.

"AH, reservations for two in our corner booth, right this way sir, ma'am.," the hostess was quick to pick up two nearly translucent tablets, the kind most often found in Atlas and as such spoke to just how much it costs to get a reservation at this place.

"You didn't rob a bank when I wasn't looking, did you?" Yang asked as she looped her arm through Naruto's and followed the hostess to their booth, "Because if you did then I'm a little put out that you didn't invite me."

Naruto just let out an amused chuckle, "No, I didn't rob a bank when you weren't looking, I earned every single cent I'm spending tonight. But at least now I know what we'll do for our second date."

"Oh, so you think there's going to be a second one? Maybe if you're good on this one."

As the two sat down in the corner booth, Yang choosing to sit right next to Naruto instead of across from him like one would expect, the two quickly went about ordering their meals. Unlike with normal restaurants, the tablets allowed you to select which food you wanted all without having the hostess come back to your table. That way there was no miscommunication between the customer and the chef."

"There is no way you can afford all this, even the price of a glass of water is outrageous!" Yang half whispered and half yelled, having not even gotten to the actual meals that they had.

"Just order whatever you want, it is my treat," Naruto gave Yang a chaste kiss on the cheek before going back to his own menu, already knowing what he wanted to eat but didn't want to make Yang feel rushed.

"Are you sure?" Yang asked, she wasn't used to being treated to a fancy restaurant.

"If I wasn't sure, then I wouldn't have offered," was all Naruto said on the matter, his scarlet eyes never breaking away from the menu.

It didn't take long for them to eventually place their order, such was the joys of using Atlas technology to order their food. So naturally they decided to make small talk to pass the time until their food was ready. Yang was obviously the first one start, always feeling more comfortable when she had control of the conversation. This suited Naruto just fine, it gave him more to learn about.

"So there I was, the Ursa had already broke my aura and flung me towards the tree, but I wasn't going to let that keep me down! So I managed to flip around in the air, launch myself off the tree it through me at, and punched it so hard that shattered its entire arm and scattered it to dust!" Yang cheered, her fists outstretched as if she had been battling an invisible opponent the entire time.

"Bravo," Naruto slowly clapped his hands with a small but amused smile playing on his face, "You really are a brawler."

"And I'm just getting better with time. Soon enough I'll be unstoppable, because no one's ever been to make me bow!" It was the discrete looks from the other customers that eventually caused Yang to calm down, remembering that she was inside a fancy restaurant and not the school cafeteria, "So...do you have any interesting stories, like maybe how you got those scars on your face?"

"Oh these?" Naruto asked as he slowly traced three of the scars, "I'm afraid the story behind them isn't quite so exciting."

"Come on, I want to learn more about you. Not just the stuff you share with the rest of the team, but stuff you'd only share with me," she pressed on, giving her best impression of Ruby's legendary puppy dog face.

"Well I guess I might have a few stories, like the time I was wandering the deserts of Vacuo. It actually wasn't long before I joined Beacon, maybe a few months. It all started when I met a man named Ivan."

* * *

"I can't believe we lost them already! How could we have possibly lost them?!" Weiss shouted while scanning the small crowd of students exiting the various transports, growing more and more frustrated by the second.

"Well Yang's normally to oblivious, so Naruto must have noticed us," Ruby hummed to herself, greedily munching on Naruto's former bag of cookies.

"Then it's a good thing I already have an idea as to where they're going," Blake spoke up as she swiped through her scroll, remembering when Naruto messaged her about possibly places to take Yang to for their date, "Let's try this place first, it's the closest and more in the price range for students."

"Are you sure?" Weiss asked, having received a copy of the list from Blake just like all the others, "Even a brute of Uzumaki's nature wouldn't take a date to a ramen stand. Especially after all the work I put into her."

"Do you have any better ideas?" Blake raised a single eyebrow but otherwise kept a completely blank face.

"No…"

"Perhaps we should split up then? Four people can cover more ground than one large group," Pyrrha suggested as politely as she could, feeling a little left out of the conversation.

"Oh, that's a great idea!" Ruby cheered, "Whoever finds them first could message all the others!"

* * *

Emerald Sustrai, formerly a thief and homeless person, owed everything she currently had to one Cinder Fall. That was the only reason she was wasting her valuable time following one Naruto Uzumaki the very moment he left Beacon. Her mistress wanted every edge she could get against the over confident mercenary, which she couldn't understand as to why. So what if he could dodge a single one of Cinder's attacks, her mistress could have leveled the entire warehouse if she wanted to! That blonde fool just got lucky, that's all!

So now here she sat, in the same restaurant as Naruto and his date, who Emerald lazily categorized as just another easy blonde. She had no idea how a simple mercenary could even afford to eat at a place like this, especially when she had to use her semblance to sneak past the hostess. It was a waste of money anyways, Emerald could've bought enough food to last or an entire week for the amount this place charged.

"This is stupid, it's not like it will matter once our grand plan comes to fruition," Emerald whispered to herself as she continued to watch the two blondes, "Just like with Roman, he'll be disposed of without a second thought."

For the next twenty minutes she watched and listened to them have small talk, which was thankfully interrupted by the arrival of their food. Emerald honestly couldn't stand another one that that girls lame puns, or listen to their cringe worthy flirting. It honestly reminded her of a bad porno!

Yet it was her phone vibrating that thankfully drew Emerald's attention away, especially since it was her dear Cinder. Emerald eagerly hit the answer button and held the device up to her ear.

"How's your night going?" Cinder's voice was like a siren's call to Emerald, hypnotizing and inviting all at the same time.

"Filled with bad puns and corny flirting. I mean no offense, but isn't this a little much just to learn how to beat one mercenary?" Emerald asked, hoping that her mistress would see the light and she could get out of this place.

"To defeat an enemy, you must first know them. Naruto Uzumaki is an unknown, even though we may have hired him. So every little detail I can get, from his personality to his fighting style, will give me an edge. Besides, at least you don't have to put up with Mercury as well," Cinder teased, getting a reluctant nod of agreement from Emerald.

"I understand, I'll keep observing him no matter how boring it gets."

"Don't worry, I've ensured that their night will become quite lively before it's over."

* * *

"You know," Yang hummed as they walked down the streets of Vale, with full stomachs and held hands, "That place wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, at least for a fancy place that charge an arm and a leg for just a glass of water."

"I'm glad you approve, but the night's still young and we've got one more place to visit. A place I think you'll enjoy a little bit more," Naruto said, bringing their joined hands up so he could kiss the back of Yang's.

"I think this settles it, I'm definitely keeping you."

Naruto let out a bark of laughter, "That's good to know, it seems all my hard work has paid off."

Unfortunately their peaceful stroll was interrupted by ten figures stepping out of a dark alleyway, which was a bit cliché in Naruto's mind. Naruto had actually noticed the small group following them for quite some time now, at least ever since they left the restaurant.

"Well well well, look at what we have here boys. What's a couple of kids like you doing in a place like this?" A tall and well built man asked, his arms folded over his broad chest while his nine lackeys each spread out to flank him.

"Really, can't you see were having a moment here?" Yang asked, feeling more than a little irked that her date was being interrupted by a bunch of gangster wannabes, "Why don't you guys go back into your alley and brood a little bit more?"

"Girl's got a mouth on her, were going to put that to good use," another of the thugs grinned as he pulled out the simple looking switchblade, Naruto's eyebrow just twitched as he tried to fight off this new sense of irritation.

"Do all you retards just get the same material from the same book, assuming you can even read that is. You're gonna put her mouth to good use? I mean really, that sounds like just bad writing. How about we try this. You guys move along, and we won't show you guys the insides of your own colons?" Naruto shot back, ready to pull out the knife he had hidden up his sleeve if the situation called for it.

"That's it, you're a dead man!" One of the men made to lunge at Naruto, only to find the back of Yang's boot being roundhouse kicked right into his face.

"You shouldn't have done that," Yang said that she slowly took off her jacket, handed it to a savagely grinning Naruto, and cracked her knuckles, "Because now I'm going to have to break you, like a Kit-Kat bar!"

* * *

**I decided to self-beta this chapter to see if I got the skills for it, let me know what you guys thing. Plus, as always, ideas and suggestions are welcome.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: The Date Part Two**

There were no less than fourteen facial bones in the normal human skull; the inferior nasal concha, lacrimal bones, mandible, maxilla, nasal bones, palatine bones, vomer, and the zygomatic bones. Of these fourteen bones, Yang managed to break no less than the left zygomatic bone, the left maxilla, and the left half of the mandible with one devastating punch to the jaw. She also sent more than half of the poor man's teeth flying out of his mouth and either down his throat or scattered all over the dirty sidewalk. Lastly the poor bastard was punted, just like a ball, into his frozen friends just seconds after hitting the ground.

"And where do you think you're going?!" Yang shouted, grabbing one of the more spineless thugs that tried to run away, "I didn't say you could leave yet!"

The poor man was ripped right off the ground, hoisted right over the brawler's head, and slammed down onto the ground with enough force to knock him right out!

The remaining thugs, aside from their leader, all noticeably flinched when their comrade was brutally slammed into the ground; Yang used this to her advantage. Another one finally worked up the nerve to try and kick it Yang, it was a pathetic kick but at least he made the attempt, but Yang start coming. All it took was one punch, right to the man's gut, to stop his kick and allow Yang to grab onto the appendage. She flipped herself around, bringing her latest victim with her, before pinning his leg up on her shoulder and wrapping both her arms right on top of his knee.

"No no no no!" The man begged, but unfortunately he was begging to the wrong person, because Yang brought her arms down with enough strength to completely snap his knee and bend his leg the wrong direction.

Everyone else, but the leader of course, used their fallen comrade as a distraction to charge at Yang in the hopes of their numbers overwhelming her. Naruto just smiled, don't thugs ever learned, they got no hope against even the Huntress in training. Yang proceeded to flip back up to her feet just in time to deliver another face breaking punch. She bobbed and weaved through a flurry of punches set her away, batting away one man's strike and delivering a fierce uppercut that sent him flying at least five feet into the air. The final two made the mistake of actually drawing knives to try and stab Yang, but all this got them was a broken wrist and a dislocated shoulder.

Now there Yang stood, her chest slowly rising and falling as she tried to regain her breath, with nine unconscious and moderately injured thugs all strewn out about her. Her eyes flashed red for the briefest of moments when she looked at the leader, small specks of fire like aura leaking off of her hair. She was like a volcano about to erupt, all it would take was one final push. Sure enough, the last remaining thug would provide that final push.

"I told those idiots not to just rush in," he said while shaking his head in disappointment, his arms still crossed over his chest, "I guess I'll just have to handle this on my own."

Yang just responded by punching her fist into her open palm, "You celebrated your buddies, think you can actually give me a real fight?"

"I'm not like the rest of these chumps, and more like you two. I used to call Beacon Academy my home, until another student decided to rat me out for selling some drugs. You make one mistake and suddenly they throw you out into the wind, but I'm a survivor," the brutes said as he slowly stripped off his jacket to reveal armor beneath it that stretched down his arms.

"Or maybe you just couldn't keep up with everyone else and they had to cut you loose," Yang taunted, her hair beginning to glow more and more as bits of the same type of energy formed around her fists.

"I was the number one fighter in my year, I've only gotten stronger since being out here on the streets," the man slowly clenched his fists together, popping all of his knuckles as he did so, "I was originally doing this as a favor, but now, now I'm going to have to try real hard not to enjoy myself."

The man charged forward like a raging Grimm not a second later, letting out a war cry as he did so, but Naruto saw something that the man didn't. Yang was smiling, despite looking like a volcano about to go off, that could only mean that she had a plan. Unfortunately this plan also made Naruto cringe, which was almost impossible to do.

Time seemed to slow down when the thug got within range, Yang was already bouncing on the balls of her feet and so was able to flip over him at just the right moment. Unfortunately for the thug, he didn't have time to turn around before he suddenly felt himself being lifted off the ground for some reason. He couldn't comprehend it, was somebody levitating him?

It was then that the pain came, the type of pain that only another man would know, the pain of being kicked right in the balls. Yang's boot covered foot was planted right in between his legs, which were no longer touching the ground, and it was then that his mind went blank. The thug fell to the ground with foam coming out of his mouth and his eyes rolled into the back of his skull. Naruto actually felt a small wave of sympathy, but it didn't last long.

"Clearly the standards have only gone up since we joined Beacon, if that's what made you the number one fighter. My baby sister could probably kick your butt," Yang spat out as she walked around the fallen thug and delivered another strong kick right to his ribs, sending him skidding across the pavement and into a wall.

The sound of clapping made Yang remember that she wasn't the only one here, plus there was the fact that she was also on a date. Yet when Yang turned around she actually found Naruto struggling to hold back a laugh as he clapped his hands together, which alleviated some of her worry.

"Well done, very well done indeed," Naruto continued to clap as he made his way over to Yang, her eyes fading from bright scarlet back to their normal lilac, "Just when I thought I couldn't like you anymore, you go and put on this amazing show."

"Sorry if that ruined the date, I kinda went a little ballistic there," Yang chuckled as she scratched the back of her head, a bit of red dust in her cheeks.

"I'd expect nothing less, it was actually kinda hot," Naruto admitted as he helped Yang put her jacket back on, gently kissing her cheek as she just smiled up at him.

"I think you're the first guy I've met the didn't get scared off when they saw me go ballistic, where have you been all my life?"

"I guess we'll always wonder," Naruto held up his arm, "Shall we?"

"All of the yesses!"

* * *

Not long after Naruto and Yang continued on their way, another figure jumped down from the rooftops and landed in front of the now awake group of thugs. They instantly flinched back when a familiar pair of scarlet eyes glared down at them, only this time they belonged to a raven haired woman. A woman that was slowly drawing a sword from her side.

"No one attacks my kids and lives."

They didn't even have time to scream.

* * *

Ruby Rose knew she wasn't the most mature girl at Beacon Academy, she was only fifteen after all and was the most socially awkward person ever born, but even she felt a bit annoyed that she'd been given all the kiddy places to search. The first of which was an ice cream shop, of all places! There was no way Naruto would take Yang to an ice cream shop for their first date, that would only be the case if he'd taken Ruby herself instead!

"No, bad Ruby!" Ruby viciously shook her head to rid herself of the very idea of Naruto taking her out on a date instead of Yang, although it didn't help the butterflies in her stomach or her now red face.

After making sure her face no longer looked like an active volcano, Ruby took a deep breath and walked into the rather simple looking ice cream shop. The inside was rather simple looking, with a few booths lining the walls, a small bar like area closer to the door, ice cream themed wallpaper, and cone shaped lights hanging from the ceiling. There was obviously no sign of Naruto or Yang, just like Ruby knew there wouldn't be, _but_ since she was here she might as well get a little snack for the road.

Walking up to the counter, Ruby was greeted by a rather strange sight. The person working the counter seemed to be trying to have a conversation with his current customer but wasn't getting anywhere. It was funny that the first thing that came to Ruby's mind was that this girl almost looked just like neapolitan ice cream, even her hair was the three different flavors!

"Listen, Ms., I don't understand what your trying to tell me," the counter worker said with as much patients as he apparently had, struggling to get across that particular fact to a young woman that was clearly mute.

The ice cream themed girl seemed to dramatically roll her eyes and place one hand on her hip while the other rested lazily on the umbrella she was currently leaning against. Clearly the ice cream man wasn't the only one on the verge of losing their patients, but luckily Ruby Rose was there to save the day!

"Um, excuse me, but is there any way I could help," Ruby asked a bit nervously, especially when two sets of eyes turned to look at her at the same exact time.

Of all the people Neo thought she'd run into while out on the town, she'd never expected to run into the other person that was responsible for her dum-dum being sent to jail! She was half tempted to stab the girl through her little throat, but then remembered the real reason she was here; the more important reason. Of all the places in Vale, this ice cream shop was the only one she could normally get her favorite treat at. That is until the regular worker apparently retired and was soon replaced by a retard that couldn't comprehend what she was gesturing to! So maybe, just maybe, she'd spare everyone if one Ruby Rose could help her!

Neo quickly nodded her head and used her umbrella to point at the exact item she wanted on the menu, followed by pointing to three individual flavors scattered across the display case. Ruby seemed to catch on quick, which was as much a relief to Neo as it was to the man working behind the counter.

"Oh, that looks good!" Ruby explained, a bit of drool escaping her mouth, "Two extra large cones please! One with chocolate, vanilla , and strawberry! The second one with all chocolate!"

"Thank the gods," the worker was quick to fill both orders and hand them to the two girls, which Ruby quickly paid for before Neo had a chance to.

"Oh, before I forget!" Ruby quickly pulled out her scroll and pulled up a picture of Naruto and Yang, showing it to the worker, "Have these two stopped in lately?"

"Nope, can't say they have, sorry," the man said before vanishing into the back of the little shop, only for Neo to stick her tongue out at his rather rude behavior.

"Aw man, I'm never gonna find Naruto and Yang."

Once again Neo perked up, this girl also knew that Naruto guy who saved her dum-dum! Although that did make a bit of sense considering Naruto was the one who helped put Roman away to begin with, but that also means she wasn't able to do anything to the little goth girl! Oh well, she was content with her ice cream.

A message suddenly popped up on Ruby's scroll, from a number she didn't recognize, "_Want some help?_"

"Huh, who's this?" Ruby asked aloud, only to find a grinning Neo waving at her with her own scroll in hand.

"Hey, how'd you get my number!" Ruby shouted, more in astonishment than actual anger.

"_Magic! ;)_" was the reply.

"Wait a moment, if you could type on your scroll then why didn't you type what you wanted back there? Wouldn't that have made things easier?"

Neo took a long lick from her ice cream as her thumb went to work, followed by a ding on Ruby's scroll, "_He was being rude and wouldn't pay attention._"

"Oh, that sounds like something Yang would do to someone. Oh and, um, I'd love some help looking for them! They're on a date so everyone's trying to spy on them for some reason."

"_Oh, sounds like fun! :)_" came the reply before the two short girls, one a huntress and the other the thief, walked out of the ice cream shop like a pair of new found friends; happily enjoying their frozen treats!

Naturally, just seconds later, the familiar form of Roman Torchwick walked out of the bathroom only to find his bodyguard/friend now missing.

"Um, Neo, where'd you go?"

* * *

Weiss let out a frustrated huff as she once again stormed out of a run down old restaurant, filled to the brim with rather unsavory people of both human and faunus nature. She just knew Blake sent her all the more shady addresses for where Naruto might have taken Yang for their date, but she couldn't understand why. The white and black haired girls had barely even shared a couple passing conversations in the entire time their two teams had been friends, so why did it seem like the blackette had it out for her? The only reason she was even out here was because she put so much work into Yang's last minute outfit!

"Honestly, I should have just stayed back at Beacon," Weiss grumbled, pulling out her scroll to find the next supposed place the blonde duo might have gone for their date.

Little did Weiss know that she was being watched by two Grimm mask wearing individuals, who soon vanished to report back to their temporary base.

**My god, this chapter is short, stupid, and I've had to rewrite it six times! That's it, next chapter we're all going to the beach!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

* * *

There was nothing like a good early morning workout to really get your blood pumping before the day actually starts; at least according to Naruto Branwen and his blonde bombshell of a partner. Between the many different weight machines, training simulations, and six different punching bag weights; the two blondes could get up to quite a bit of fun. Yang's favorite was to tie up the heaviest bag and lay into it with enough ferocity to almost trigger her semblance. Fortunately for her, Yang now had a punching bag that could do so much more than just take a hit. In fact, it tended to hit back!

Pyrrha Nikos had been trained from a young age to be an unstoppable fighting machine that couldn't be stopped once she entered an arena. Yet, ever since entering Beacon and joining her team, Pyrrha learned that she wasn't the best. For most people this would hurt their ego, maybe even make them overly aggressive, but Pyrrha felt more relieved than anything else. Well as relieved as one could be when your tank of a teammate nearly dislocated your jaw with one solid punch!

"Holy crap, Pyrrha are you alright?!" Yang exclaimed when her redheaded teammate didn't get up after that last punch literally sent her right to the ground even when they were both wearing gloves and had aura protecting them.

"I'm," Pyrrha began as she tried to sit up, lightly holding her jaw with a bit of a dazed expression, "I'm alright, that just took me by a bit of a surprise."

"You want to continue, or should we stop for now?" Yang now really was concerned, enough to take off her boxing gloves and try to help Pyrrha get back to her feet; Naruto even stop his own workout to go over and help.

"I think I'm good. Now I understand why you can kill a Grimm with one good punch," Pyrrha tried to joke as Yang helped lower her down out of the ring and into Naruto's arms.

"Well at least we know your jaw is stronger than most Grimm," Naruto joked back, getting a bit of a bashful smile from the girl he was holding his arms while Yang just rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Who needs fancy weapons when you have guns like these!" Yang boasted as she began flexing her muscles, her semblance briefly flashing around her as an all too cocky grin formed on her face.

After a while, once Pyrrha felt like she wasn't about to fall over just by standing up, her and Yang decided to go hit the showers while Naruto finished his own workout. The peace and quiet was kind of nice, it gave him time to think, time to reflect on his past actions, and time to plan his future ones. In the time that he's been here, when he wasn't doing school work or hanging out with his team, Naruto had scoured every square inch of Beacon to find what he was supposed to steal. It would've helped if his employer actually told him what the thing was, but all he was told was that he would know it when he saw it. Sure there were plenty of expensive things here at Beacon, but nothing worth hiring a mercenary over.

_'It has to be something I haven't seen before, something kept out of the public eye, but even then I haven't been able to find so much as a hint,' _Naruto thought as he approached the pull up bar, jumped up to grab it, hung there for about two seconds, before getting right to it.

_'There has to be some part of Beacon that I haven't seen yet, something not even on the official plans I was able to get a hold of in the library. That means getting close to someone that would have that kind of knowledge and that rules out most of the teachers here. Really I only have two targets I could possibly go after, both of which will be rather difficult to earn the trust of,'_ he knew that, in all reality, there is really only one of the two people that he could successfully convince.

Despite Ozpin's friendly exterior, Naruto never once felt comfortable around the man. There was something off about him, something in those eyes that said he knew something that no one else did, and anyone like that was bound to be paranoid. That also combined with the fact that there were cameras hidden throughout his dorm room, a clear violation of the school's policy, meant that the old man more than likely had one of his lackeys watching him. Ozpin wouldn't put himself at risk, not in any way meaningful, and he wouldn't go outside his circle of trust here at the school. So that just left one person, a persona Naruto already knew how to fuck with just by standing in the same room.

"Well, I always did have a thing for older women," Naruto finished his work out, was a bit disappointed when he hit the showers and was unable to at least catch a glimpse of Yang, before heading back to the dorm to finish getting ready for the day.

* * *

"You know, you've got to be the creepiest mother I've ever seen," Qrow commented as he lounged around on a tree branch just above his dear older sister, who was smiling down at the latest picture of her Naruto.

"Did you say something?" Raven asked, all looks of kindness and love leaving her face as she glanced up at Qrow.

"Yeah, don't you think your acting a bit obsessive right about now? I mean you found Naruto after he ran away for a year, not that I could really blame him wanting to get away from the tribe, and have yet to either go back to the tribe yourself or drag him along kicking and screaming. So what gives, you usually don't stick around this long?" It had been bugging Qrow for quite a while, or at least when he wasn't passed out in a booze induced coma.

"I spent the better part of the last year not knowing if he was alive or dead. So excuse me for a lease hanging around for a bit," Raven bit back as she got to her feet and dusted off the imaginary dirt on her armor.

"Well as much fun as this family time he's been, and it really has been just ecstatic, Ozpin's pull me off watching the kids. Apparently there's reports of an increase in Grimm forming up in the mountain range. So, wish me luck," Qrow transformed and flew off without another word, already knowing that Raven wasn't going to follow him this time.

Raven just scoffed and rolled her eyes, like a little brother didn't understand what it was like. Naruto was one of the few rays of sunshine in Raven's life, there really was no other way to describe it, and him sneaking away from the tribe had actually hurt her quite a bit. She would never talk about it with anyone, since only the person she would talk about her feelings with had left, but that didn't matter anymore. The only thing that mattered was that she could keep an eye on him now, even if she did have to watch as he unknowingly dated his own sister.

That was one thing that Raven wasn't looking forward to explaining once everything came to a head, because it always did. She knew that he would lash out at her, they both probably would, but in the end, Raven knew that her little Naruto would understand.

The feeling of her scroll vibrating broke off that train of thought.

"Hello?" Raven asked as she placed the scroll up against her ear.

"Hello, Raven," the voice on the other end was one that she instantly recognized, but just wasn't planning on hearing for the rest of her life.

"Tai, it's been a while," Raven didn't know what else to say, what could she say to her ex-husband of whom she abandoned with their son.

"Yeah, I know we usually use Qrow as a go-between, but I felt that at least this time I could be the one to call you," Raven could just imagine Tai nervously scratching the back of his head, a trait he seemed to have passed on to all three of his children, "It's almost that time of the year. I know you usually tell Qrow that you won't come, then just fly buy when you think no one is looking, but I was hoping at least this year will be different. Maybe the three of us could do it as a team."

Raven took a deep breath and gazed up at the sky, as if it would somehow give her a proper answer, "Last time we were near each other, you nearly broke my jaw. Sigh, fine, I'll stop by."

Raven hung up without ever waiting for a response, although she did silently wonder if Tai ever told Yang about her older twin. Maybe she'd ask him, or maybe not, it all really depends on what kind of mood she's in.

"It's all coming to a head," Raven transformed and took off into the sky, "The winds have shifted."

Raven flew through the sky for quite some time, having no particular destination in mind, and begrudgingly admitted than this one little trick was possibly the best gift she ever got from the manipulative old bastard. Still, despite knowing what the old man was like, Raven still knew her place in the pecking order. She could beat Ozpin in a straight up fight, it would be a long and drawn out one but she could do it. Ozpin, on the other hand, was smart enough to never be caught in such a position and devious enough to make it seem like she was the bad guy. Given that wasn't very hard to do but the point still stands.

_**SKREEEEEE!**_

Raven's eyes widened as a massive Grimm suddenly came barreling down on her smaller form, tallon like claws threatening to skewer her without remorse! It was only a sudden diver and a quick transformation that stopped the legendary woman's premature death, unfortunately for the massive Grimm.

Landing on top of a tree, which just barely held her weight, Raven narrowed her eyes at the creature; a Grimm the likes of which she had never seen before. The first thing that came to mind was the old stories of dragons that her parents used to tell her at night, judging by the massive bat-like wings and just its general shape. A sudden chill crawled up Raven's spine when her red eyes bet the glowing ones of the Grimm as it circle around for another attack. It was Salem, Salem was controlling this beast all the way from the castle.

"Why the hell can't you just leave me alone," Raven growled, already drawing her sword and preparing for combat; if this kept up then she'd at least have to warn her son to be careful.

"Alright, you overgrown lizard, I'm gonna make you work for this snack!" the blackette leapt into the air just as her opponent swooped in with its jaws wide open, completely destroying the tops of several trees, and wasted no time in digging her dust forged blade right into it's back!

Many thousands of miles away, Salem just sat there on her throne with a smile on her face. She needed to keep the Branwen twins occupied just long enough for Adam to complete his purpose. The boy would surely die, but it wouldn't be by their hands.

"Hm, I see where he gets it from."

* * *

While his mother fought for her life against a Grimm, Naruto's and Ruby's teams arrived at an abandoned beach just a few miles outside of vale. The sun was high in the sky by this point, making Naruto just close his eyes and drink in the heat, while the cool ocean breeze tickled his skin. Their transport, a small van each member pitched in to rent for the day, was parked further up away from the water but close enough that they could get to their gear stored inside.

"Cannonball!" Came the war cry of Ruby Rose as she darted past Naruto and went flying a good few yards out into the ocean, using her semblance to launch herself farther than her legs ever could.

"Well she's certainly excited," Blake commented as she came to a stop right next Naruto, wearing a dark purple two-piece bikini and her traditional bow, "Although I can't really blame her."

"Our original goal was to come here to train her little bit, but I suppose it couldn't hurt to relax first. Besides, look at all the free eye candy," Naruto grinned a bit as he glanced over at Yang and Pyrrha, both clad in bikinis of yellow and red respectively, who were laying out the towels and setting up a few umbrellas.

"Boys," Blake scoffed, rolling her eyes dramatically, but let out a startled yelp when Naruto suddenly threw his arm over her shoulder and pulled her in close.

"I'm looking at you too, just don't tell Yang," Naruto winked before moving over to help the boys get the rest of the stuff from the van, which included the neatly stored weapons they'd be using later on.

About twenty minutes later and everything was set up, including enough chairs for all of them, the food they decided to bring, and a few changes of clothes just in case. Nora and Ren decided to go off exploring a little bit further on down the beach, Pyrrha and Yang were currently having a swimming competition to see who can go the furthest, and Jaune and Weiss had passed out almost the moment they sat down. Then there was Blake who was sunbathing a few yards away. This just left Naruto and Ruby to their own devices, which right now consisted of Ruby building a little sand castle, with the help of her fellow team leader down by the shore.

"You're doing well so far," Naruto commented as he sat next to the blackette while she continued to pile wet sand on top of wet sand, "You haven't freaked out from only wearing a swimsuit around everyone."

As if on cue, Ruby's cheeks heated up just a bit and she nearly dropped the bucket out of her hand, "I guess I just wasn't really thinking about it. Although maybe because it's not as revealing as Yang's."

That was true, Ruby had decided to go for a dark red one-piece bathing suit, like the kinds they gave to most girls at schools, with the only addition being the black hearts that were polkadotted all over it. All in all it's suited Ruby better than a bikini would, she was still developing after all and it gave her a sense of innocence that Naruto couldn't help but smile at.

"That's because it suits you, you're still pretty innocent after all," Naruto tried not to laugh at the child is outrage on Ruby's face.

"I am not innocent! I'm just like everybody else!" Ruby shouted, crossing her arms and shooting a glare at Naruto.

"Oh, is that so?" Naruto challenged with a taunting smile, as if he knew something that she didn't know.

"Yes, yes it is!" Ruby shot back, standing up so that now she was taller than Naruto while placing her hands on her hips, "I'm a big girl after all, I drink plenty of milk every day!"

Naruto just grinned some more and leaned back onto his elbows, not at all intimidated, "Then who was your first kiss?"

And just like that, all the wind was sucked right out of Ruby's sails while her face looked like she had been out in the sun for too long without any sunscreen. Neither of them noticed Weiss's eyes crack open just a bit, she hoped to get some dirt on her team leader; for teasing purposes of course! It wasn't like she cared!

"Mumble, mumble, mumble."

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that, could you repeat that for me?" Ruby didn't know how her older sister could put up with Naruto's teasing, it must be a blonde thing.

"I–I, haven't y–yet," Ruby was no longer meeting his gaze, instead she decided to count the grains of sand on the beach.

"Good, that means your sister and I still have time to corrupt you."

"W–What!" Ruby scream was so loud that it scared Jaune right out of his seat, sending him face first into the sand, and nearly gave Weiss a heart attack.

Blake somehow went flying a good few feet into the air before landing in a crouch, her eyes laser focused.

Meanwhile, almost half a mile out from the shore, Yang and Pyrrha decided to rest for a moment and simply lay there floating in the ocean. The nice thing about being this close to land was that no water-based Grimm ever came this close. Not to mention they mostly stuck to the large city centers and their massive amounts of negative energy. So there was no reason for the two girls to be worried about suddenly being dragged under the waves like they were in some horror movie.

"I gotta tell you, you're the first person to be able to keep up with me physically since I got to Beacon," Yang huffed out as she stared up at the clouds, enjoying the feeling of weightlessness and the soft rock of the ocean.

"I was thinking the same thing. It's... relieving to no longer be the only strong person in the room. Between everyone on our team, even everyone at Beacon, I feel like I'm finally not alone anymore. Sorry, if that doesn't make much sense," Pyrrha said, her long and vibrant red hair spread out around her like a halo and even intertwined with Yang's whenever they drifted closer together.

"I know what you mean, I think you're one of the first people to take a hit to the face from me and not get knocked out. Between you and Naruto, I don't feel like the strong unapproachable girl that I was at Signal Academy. Now I can have a boyfriend without him feeling intimidated or something."

The two strong young women just continue to float there in silence after that, Yang reaching out to hold Pyrrha's hand so that they wouldn't float too far apart without the other knowing. They felt relieved to just get away from everyone for a moment, to just float there and ponder everything.

"What's it like?" Pyrrha suddenly asked.

"What, dating Naruto?"

"Yes. I've seen the way you two act around each other, despite never meeting before we came to Beacon. It was almost like you two were drawn to each other and I was just wondering what that was like."

Yang seemed to ponder Pyrrha's question for a moment, a gentle smile forming on her face, "It's almost like whenever I go into my semblance, but without the uncontrollable rage that usually triggers it. I feel like every fiber of my body is on fire, like I just can't get enough of it, and I wanted it to last forever. He's the first guy ever felt drawn to, like he's the other half I didn't even know I was missing."

"I see, I think I understand what you're saying. Yet, if that's the case, then why do you keep telling Blake that she could join the two of you in your relationship together?" Pyrrha didn't know if it was just her sheltered lifestyle or if Yang was just different.

"Oh that's just me teasing her, I get a kick out of making people blush."

"That's not very nice," the redhead commented, although there really wasn't any heat to her words, "Although it is amusing to watch."

"I know right! Now come on, I'll race you back to the shore!" Yang suddenly flipped around and took off, startling Pyrrha and making her flail for a bit.

"Hey, that's cheating!"

* * *

_SMACK!_

Cardin couldn't remember the last time his father struck him, or maybe it was because his father never _had_ struck him; let alone in front of so many people. Gabriele Winchester was a tall and well built man, much like his son, but with short gray hair, the bare hints of a growing beard, and the kind of stare that could pin a Grimm at a thousand yards. He was dressed in well bade cloths, of both function and fashion, and held in his right hand was a cane with the Winchester crest carved into it. His left hand was still held out from when he just backhanded his own son, as much as it broke his heart, and on that hand was a single gold right flipped inward so as to not make Cardin bleed.

"Have you completely lost sense, boy?" Gabriele growled, his voice deep and powerful; the kind one gets from spending time in the thick of combat.

Cardin remained silent, his aura absorbing most of the impact, but the blow to his pride was not so easily defended. He'd hoped to have this happen once he returned home after the semester, to have this humiliation take place away from prying eyes, but apparently fate had other ideas. The young Winchester knew he deserved at least this much, a few weeks of self reflection had proven that.

"Dad…"

"I asked a question," Gabriele never raised his voice, maybe that's why Cardin felt like a little kid again, "What could have possessed you to do something so stupid? Do you realize how long it took to build our family to the honor and standing that it has today, how many generations? Now you've left a black mark upon us all, just for something as childish as your personal pride."

"I know I was wrong!" Cardin growled, struggling to keep his temper in check when knowing it would only get him in even more trouble if he exploded

"Really? Then tell me, when this young man I've heard so much about took down your entire team, for reasons that were justified no less, what you do wrong?" Gabriele asked as he turned and began walking away from the forming crown, Cardin already knowing to follow him without even so much as a look.

"..."

"Sigh, Winchesters don't act like fools," now those words really hurt; Cardin even opened his mouth to finally talk back but was instantly cut off, "Are you going to say something clever? (Glare) Go ahead, say something clever."

Cardin took a moment to consider his words, his instinctual need to get out of trouble reared its ugly head, "Uzumaki attacked my team, my friends, what would you have had me do?"

"I would have had you not allow your pride to make you do something so foolish. This isn't even the first time you've acted this way, from what I've heard. Bullying faunus students, those of your same year, throwing the family name around like a cheap whore."

"You hate the faunus just as much as I do!" that did it, Cardin finally snapped, the boy's rage filled eyes now staring into his father's deadly serious ones; the nearby students were now very much listening it.

"_A _faunus," the words were barely above a whisper but everyone seemed to hear them, "I hate one single faunus. Out of the billions that are born, live, and die, I only hate _one_ of them. The one that took my wife from me and your mother from you. His _name_ is Otto Collona. His name is not Velvet Scarlatina. His name is not Jaune Arc! His name is _not_ Naruto Uzumaki or Ruby Rose!"

Gabriele stood there for a few moments, breathing deeply in and out, white Cardin just looked on in fear. His father had never yelled at him in such a way before, not in the seventeen years he'd been alive. Hell, even the onlookers quickly beat feet and got out of dodge. Well, all accept one that is.

"Hey, he gets it!" both Winchesters turned to see a familiar faunus, at least to Cardin, standing there glaring at Gabriele with bright blue eyes, "He's an ass, everyone knows it! Maybe instead of ripping into him you could help him get over it!"

"Wha…"

"He already proved he was able to change a little bit because he saved me from his douchebag teammates," she continued, now marching forwards and getting right in Gabriele's face; an act few could do without flinching away.

Gabriele had a short staring match with the fox girl, she possessed a spine that many full grown men didn't, and in the end he was the one to turn away and back towards his son, "I have a meeting with Ozpin, we'll continue this later."

Both Beacon students watched the old Winchest turn and begin walking towards the main tower, only to stop one more, "Girl, what's your name?"

"Inari, Inari Okami."

"Hm," Gabriele spared one final glance at his son, "I'd keep a hold on this one, she's got a spine."

"_Just like your mother._"

* * *

"Sir, we've kept them under surveillance like you ordered. Your contact was right, the traitor is here," a young man, wearing a white Grimm mask, spoke as another figure approached him.

"I thought so. For now we watch and wait. If she's run here then she feels safe and we can use that to our advantage."

"Yes, Adam."

* * *

**I'm not gonna lie, it feels a little good to be back with this story. I also may have been channeling a bit of Tywin Lannister when I was writing Gabriele. Also, starting next chapter, I'm gonna speed things up a bit. I like relationship building as much as the next writer but no more going day by day, Anyway, read and review if you all would be so kind. L.A.W. out!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Blake Belladonna wasn't the type of person to jump to conclusions without enough evidence pointing in a very specific direction, or at least that's what she liked to tell herself to feel better when she did something incredibly reckless. Yet she was fairly confident something was wrong when she saw a symbol written on the side of her dorm, a very specific symbol that only a very select few people would know at first glance. Now the question was if there was just some faunus trying to be funny or if the White Fang really had found some way to infiltrate Beacon Academy. The second option sent a cold shiver of dread through Blakes body, she was technically considered a traitor and Adam would no doubt be the first one to volunteer to bring her in. She really did hope it was some kind of joke.

She knew how obsessive Adam had become, how his hatred for humans was quickly turning him into little more than a real animal, and it truly scared her to think of what he might do if he ever discovered where she was. If she saw any more signs of White Fang operations in or around Beacon the Blake swore she'd somehow convince her teammates to get out of dodge as quickly as possible. For now, however, she was somehow stuck wandering down to the docks with her team and Yang's little sister's team; which included the ever stuck up Schnee. Thankfully she had Naruto and Yang to keep her distracted, even if the way they had their arms wrapped around one another sent an exciting jolt of jealousy right through her body.

"Weiss, you've been going on and on about the festival since we left Beacon, don't you think we could talk about something else?" Yang moaned, she loved celebrations as much as the next girl but the Schnee heiress just wouldn't _shut up_!

"But it's just so amazing! The planning that goes into something this big, making sure everything is in its proper place at the right moment! I could talk about it for hours and never get bored!" Weiss Schnee was smiling, actually _smiling_, and even Naruto was beginning to get a little freaked out about it; he was a mercenary for gods' sake!

"You _have _talked about it for _hours_," Blake pointed out dryly, her yellow eyes twitching while she was half tempted to run back to Beacon and grab her weapon; for protection of course.

"Hmp, no one appreciates what I like," Weiss crossed her arms and turned her nose up at everyone poking fun of her, although the subtle smile on her face clearly said she knew she was being teased.

"That's not necessarily true," Naruto commented shrugging his free shoulder considering Yang was leaning on his other one, "I can appreciate the time and effort it takes to plan something this big, but I can also understand how other people could consider it a headache."

"Looks like your boyfriend agrees with me more than you," Weiss teased, only for Yang to stick her tongue out at the heiress and wrap both her arms around the object of her affection.

"That's okay, I have ways of convincing him to agree with me," just the way Yang spoke made Weiss flush the deep red, followed closely by her little sister.

"Just be glad you don't have to live with them," Jaune spoke up, "You have no idea what it's like to walk into your room, minding your own business, and find them practically dry hump in each other."

"A fact in which I am most grateful for," Ren nodded in agreement, already having to put up with Nora and her antics without adding in a romantic aspect to it all.

"That's just TMI," Ruby tried her best not to look interested, she really really did!

"What can I say, we just don't know how to hold back around each other," that was one of the better aspects of being raised in a bandit tribe; you often don't give a crap what other people see you doing because nobody really cares.

"Uncultured brutes, the both of you," Weiss scoffed, only to suddenly find herself being grabbed by Naruto and pulled to his other side, her shorter stature placing her face right on his chest.

"If that's the case, then maybe we'll just kidnap you. Us uncultured brutes, as you so elegantly called us, do have a thing for kidnapping rich heiresses and bringing them down to our level. Oh, the things we could introduce you to," Weiss let out a startled eek as she stared up into the twin orbs of scarlet that Naruto called his eyes, almost all sense of resistance leaving her body.

"Don't worry Weiss, I'll save you!" Ruby declared that she somehow managed to sneak up behind Naruto and jump on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, but that did next to nothing in trying to bring him down.

"Oh no, it's the attack of the short person, whatever shall I do?" Naruto dramatically rolled his eyes as he glanced over at Yang who was doing her best not to laugh.

"Team tackle!" Nora's sudden war-cry sucked all the levity out of the whole situation as she came flying at Naruto, Yang quickly detaching herself, and this time the blonde did go down.

"My back!"

"My body!"

"Dammit Nora."

A few minutes later, after everyone managed to get back to their feet and Naruto gave a silent prayer of thanks that his back wasn't broken, the group of nine continued on their way down the docks. Off to the side the past a dust store and waved at the old man sweeping the sidewalk in front of it. It was just another peaceful day in Vale, especially because new students from other academies were coming in for the Vital Festival. Naruto halfway expected crime to be on the rise, since he did break Roman out of jail, but oddly enough things had been quiet lately. Hell, there hadn't even been a peep from Cinder.

"Alright ice queen, why did you really bring us all the way down here?" Yang asked, ignoring the fake hurt look that Weiss tried to pass off as genuine.

"It almost sounds like you're trying to accuse me of something Xiao Long. I simply heard a rumor that some new students are coming in from the other academies and, as a student of Beacon Academy, I feel it is my duty to welcome them to Vale," nobody bought it, nobody at all, and the exasperated looks they were sending Weiss clearly conveyed that.

"What she really means is that she wanted to scope out the competition before the tournament begins," Blake snarked in one of her few displays of proper emotion, even if it was mocking.

"You can't prove that!" Weiss denied, stamping her foot on the ground while pointing dramatically at the yellow-eyed blackette.

"It's not like it's a bad plan, it's kinda hard to beat an enemy without knowing them," Naruto said as he gazed out to the approaching freighter, noticing quite a bit of movement on deck that just screamed trouble.

Weiss was actually taken aback, she never expected Naruto to actually agree with her tactic. Despite his brutish personality, he did seem to possess a sense of honor and spying was about the most dishonorable thing someone could do. Blake, on the other hand, filed that bit of information away for later. If her instincts were right, her past would come back to haunt her far sooner than she would've liked.

"Hey, get back here you no good stowaway!"

"Oh shit," Naruto mumbled, already knowing how this day was going to go, "Here we go again."

In no time at all a blonde monkey faunus, dressed in just a pair of shorts and an unbuttoned shirt, went flying past the group of hunters in training; even turning to wink at Blake as he ran past. Almost at the exact same time, Naruto and Yang felt a spike of possessiveness shoot through them! Blake was their partner!

"Well, there goes your competition," Ruby mocked her partner, who seemed dazed from nearly being trampled by the sprinting faunus.

"Quick, we must observe him!" Weiss cried, leading most of the two groups in a chase that would no doubt span half the city and take up the majority of the day; Naruto wasn't impressed in the slightest.

So, while the two groups charged on ahead, no one really noticed when Naruto didn't follow and instead just continued to casually walk after them with his hands in his pockets. Something just didn't seem right, like there was some big change coming and this tournament was going to be in the middle of it all. Did it have anything to do with this mysterious object he was supposed to steal, Cinder did seem rather upset the last time he talked to her and that strange power she wielded was like nothing he'd ever seen before. Maybe he should call in some backup, just in case things went sideways in the near future.

After about an hour of going in the direction he thought his friends went in, Naruto finally accepted the fact that he had clearly lost them somewhere in the massive city. Maybe he should have ran after the monkey faunus like all the others had, but why spend such a nice day sprinting across the city after someone you hadley even knew? Now that he thought about it some more, seeing a bunch of human chasing after one single faunus could make things seem much more sinister than they really were. Letting out a tired sigh, Naruto rounded the corner to a tea shop that he knew Blake liked to visit whenever she got a chance to go into town, not that the blackette would ever admit to having an emotional connection to anything.

Sitting there, at Blake's favorite table, was the yellow eyes girl herself with the blonde monkey boy crouching on one of the chairs. On the list of the top three things he was expecting to see today, spotting Blake having a conversation with the monkey Faunus didn't even come up, although what it did do was raise a few more questions. One such question was where the hell was everyone else, or at least why wasn't Yang here as well? Blake can act as emotionally distant as she wants, but the fact of the matter was that she hardly went anywhere without either of her blonde partners. So, just like every other member of the Branwen family, Naruto took the direct approach.

"There you are Blake, I was wondering if all of you decided to just ditch me," Blake nearly jumped out of her seat in surprise, something that was also odd considering it was relatively difficult to sneak up on her, and when she turned around she actually had the look of fear in her eyes.

"Naruto," the way she said his name made him frown, what could've happened in that hour he'd just been walking around?

"Yes, Naruto, you know your team leader. The one who would appreciate a phone call after everyone runs off to let me know where you all went," Naruto continued to act casual even after noticing all these worrying signs from his partner, "So who's your new friend that everyone decided to chase after, _while leaving me behind_?"

"Sun Wukong, nice to meet you bro," this guy reminded Naruto of Yang, a less violent and more laid-back version, and as such he didn't even hesitate to reach out and shake his hand.

"Same, I'm sure by now Blake has told you all about me," Naruto said as he took a seat, still noticing how Blake was watching him warily.

"Actually no, she's actually been in the middle of a mental breakdown after screaming at that white-haired girl that she was a Faunus. I'm still don't understand why that should matter, at least here in Vale," Sun said as he finally sat down in his own chair properly, only to lean back and prop his feet up on the table.

"Sun!" Blake suddenly screamed out in horror, her face now even paler than before as she gazed at the Faunus with the betrayed look.

"You're saying only me and Yang figured that out?" you could hear the sound of Blake's mind breaking as her entire panicked thought process ground to a screeching halt.

"You guys knew?" There was a look of slight surprise and, if Naruto was reading it right, relief in Blake's tone, "You guys knew I was a Faunus and didn't say anything?"

"You make it sound like we should've. I mean you don't go around hearing people say that they're human, it's just what they are. Why, did you think we didn't know?" Naruto inquired, tilting his head in curiosity as he watched Blake display more motions than she had since he'd known her.

"I thought you guys would be mad that I hid it from you, that I didn't tell you that I wasn't human. So you're not upset that you have a Faunus is a partner?"

"Why would I be, you're a pretty awesome partner. I'm surprised Yang didn't tell you all this."

Blake now had the decency to look embarrassed, her bow twitching as she looked down while scratching the back of her head, "I may have taken off after screaming at Weiss."

"You know, for such a skilled fighter you can be pretty dense sometimes. Besides, I don't think Yang strikes you is the type of person that will allow someone's species to stop her from becoming their friend. Pyrrha is like the nicest person in the world, you remember how she kept apologizing when beating up those guys in the club?" Blake actually let out a snort at that one, it was pretty cute actually, "And Jaune is too scared of his own shadow to even think about being mean to someone that could kick his butt halfway across the continent. Face it Blake, you may have overreacted just a bit."

"Now I feel stupid," Blake let out a depressed sigh, crossing her arms and actually pouting.

"Good, now we can go find the others, everyone can make up, and we can go about the rest of our day," Naruto clapped his hands dramatically and got to his feet, getting a shout of agreement from Sun and a slow nod with a watery smile from Blake.

"You're right, but first we have to take care of something else."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.

"I think the White Fang are planning to do something in the city and want to check it out."

The responsible thing would be to tell Blake no and drag her back to Beacon Academy, by force if necessary, but the Branwen side of him was telling him to do something so much different. The smile on his face was practically bone chilling. Somewhere, many miles away, Raven and Qrow respectively felt a sense of pride welling up in their chest. The same could be said for the entire Branwen tribe on the other side of the world.

"Well, I suppose we do have some time to kill."

* * *

"What the hell, anyone else suddenly lose their signal?" Yang asked, shaking her scroll in some vain attempt at getting the signal back so she could call Naruto and figure out where he wandered off to.

"Looks like it," Ruby grumbled, having just lost her own connection and thus lost the match she'd been playing with her new friend Neo, a match she'd been so close to finally winning!

"Same," Weiss whispered, still in a state of shock after Blake's little blow up.

"Maybe we should go back to the transports," Pyrrha suggested kindly, every instinct she had was just screaming that they were being watched by people with not so pure intentions, "I'm sure Naruto will know to meet us back there ones the day starts to come to an end."

"But what about Blake?" Yang asked, putting a hand on her hip while the other one cupped her chin in thought, "There's no telling what she'll do after that whole incident. If nothing else, I'm gonna keep looking for her."

"Common Yang, she'll come back," Ruby tried to soothe but it didn't seem to help all that much.

"Well we wouldn't be in this situation if someone had been a little more tactful," Yang shot Weiss a rather fierce glare, the kind that rivaled Weiss' father's when he was in a particularly bad mood.

"How was I supposed to know she was a faunus, it's not like I'm on her team or anything," Weiss tried to defend herself, luckily distracting Yang from the somewhat shameful looks Jaune and Pyrrha now sported for not realizing the truth about their teammate.

"That's not the point, don't you get upset when everyone talks crap about your family company's mistreatment of faunus and paint you the same way? Besides, I doubt everyone in the White Fang is an extremist that wants to wipe out every human they come across," Yang was getting angry, like the kind of anger that tended to activate her semblance and send her into a berserk rage, "So maybe instead of trying to defend your complacency in it all, you could help find my partner!"

"Yang," Pyrrha whispered, placing a hand on the brawler's shoulder as gently as she could, "We'll keep looking for her, but lashing out at Weiss isn't going to help. Please, please calm down."

Yang stood there for a moment, her hands clenched into shaking fists, before she walked over to a solid brick wall, pulled her arm back, and slammed her fist into it with enough force to nearly shatter it. For just the briefest of moments her eyes flashed scarlet and her hair burst into an inferno, but when she turned around her normal cocky smile was back in place. Everyone, aside from Ruby, who already knew her sister's insane amount of strength, looked more than a little shocked by the damage just one of Yang's punches could deliver. Sure they'd seen her dent the metal armor Naruto wore as a chest plate, not to mention Grimm tended to die after only a few hits, but to crack an entire brick wall was something else entirely. Weiss just gulped.

"Come on, let's keep looking," Yang went to turn around, only to pause when she found someone standing just a few feet away; not to mention the entire area was now deserted of almost every living soul.

The man was clearly a faunus, judging by the horns that stuck out in front of his wind swept red and brown hair, but it was the bone-like Grimm mask that he wore which seemed to put everyone on edge. He wore an asymmetrical black, long-sleeved, double-breasted stylized high-collared blazer with slit sleeves along with red thorn sigils adorned with a white crest that lined up on his left shoulder. His suit jacket had crimson lining atop his red shirt, with red thorn sigils atop a black flap attached to the bottom of the left hem and his wilting rose emblem on the back over an emblazoned white sigil resembling the curved stems and flower of the deadly nightshade plant. His blazer was half-buttoned, exposing a red shirt with a black line running parallel to his collar under it.

"I honestly don't see what Blake sees in all of you," the man said casually, tilting his head to the side in such a way that sent a shiver up Yang's spine; and not the kind Naruto usually gives her either.

Suddenly and without warning several bolas came flying at the group from every direction imaginable! Pyrrha was the first to be taken down, with the balls on the bolas connecting in front of her chest before sending a powerful burst of electricity through her body. While her aura prevented the energy from killing her, it did in turn knock her out before she even had time to think. Nora was a special case, seeing as the bolas launched at her let out knockout gas instead of electricity. All the others dropped in much the same way, at least all aside from Yang who managed to dive forward at the last possible second! Yang didn't waste her momentum either, going from a roll into a lunge at this mysterious faunus, her rage blinding her to his amused smirk.

"Amusing," he said as he pointed to the hilt of his scabbard at the still airborne Yang, smirk still firmly in place, before a sudden bang was heard.

Yang dropped to the ground a moment later, holding her ribs while coughing with wide and teary eyes, as the faunus walked over to her. Not willing to let something like a few possible cracked ribs slow her down, Yang went to throw another punch from her kneeling position but soon found a boot planted in the side of her face and a wave of electricity blasting through her aura and knocking her right out.

"Adam, our scouts report the traitor, the target, and another faunus are searching some of our safe-houses on the east side of Vale. Should we have them captured and brought to the docks?" asked a White Fang member as many others jumped down from the rooftops and walked out of the surrounding alleyways, moving to pick up the downed students.

"No, let them keep searching while we set up the main event. By the end of the night our target will be dead and every huntsman and woman will know that no amount of training can keep them safe from the White Fang. Has our inside man obtained access to the CCT?" Adam asked as he watched his new hostages being carried away and loaded into a van that had just pulled up.

"Yes, he says he can give you control at the time of your choosing," the White Fang member responded dutifully, although there was a noticeably concerned look on his face, "Sir, may I ask a question?"

Adam simply nodded, his mind already planning for the night ahead of them.

"Is it wise to go after students like this, even if one of them is a Schnee? This could just make others turn against the faunus even more."

"I understand why you are concerned," Adam spoke calmly as he reached out and placed a hand on his subordinate's shoulder, "But if we seek to enact drastic change, a change that would see all faunus treated with fear and respect, then drastic action is needed to do so. Trust me, our leader wouldn't have allowed me to go through with this plan if she didn't believe it would work."

The truth was the Sienna Khan, current leader of the White Fang, had no idea what was about to happen. She'd grown complacent since taking Gira's place, holding them back from making real and effective change, but all that would soon change. After this night, everyone would remember that it was Adam Taurus, not Sienna Khan or Gira Belladonna, that saved the faunus from their human oppressors. All he needed to do, to gain the backing he needed, was kill one single blonde boy. It would be all too easy.

"Yes sir, understood," with that the faunus went to climb into the van as well, leaving Adam and the remaining White Fang members to fade back into the shadows.

"See you soon, my love."

* * *

Raven growled in irritation as she sat at her campsite just outside the city limits, a fire already roaring with a few rabbits slowly being cooked, while she was forced to replace the bandages that were now wrapped around her stomach and left arm. That damn Grimm from before had been a lot harder to take down than she'd originally thought and it managed to get a few lucky shots in before she managed to put it down for good. There were at least a few cracked ribs, which thankfully weren't _too_ painful to move around with, and half her supply of dust forged blades had been used up. Hell, she'd nearly broken her arm when the damn thing decided it was a good idea to dive down into the forest itself and use the trees to get Raven off its back, which unfortunately did work.

"Stupid, peace of shit, Grimm. Fucking Salem, fucking Qrow taking off, fucking Tai making me think about Summer again," Raven continued to rant as she used her teeth to aggressively tie up the last of her new bandages, letting out another string of impressive curses when she moved to sharply and aggravated her cracked ribs.

Now completely done with the latest round of physical harm, Raven collapsed back onto her sleeping bag and just stared up at the bright blue sky with a bored yet also lost expression. Here she was, a forty-year-old grown ass woman, stalking her two children while watching them slowly and unknowingly delve down the path of very forbidden romance. Not to mention the Grimm Queen Bitch herself was hard-balling it towards her for some unknown reason and she wasn't getting any younger. Gods, it reminded her so much of those shitty romance novels she used to steal from Summer when they bunked together.

"Dammit Summer, sometimes I think you got off easier than the rest of us did. Qrow's even more of a drunk than he was back then, Tai hasn't been in a real fight in years, and I'm mother of the fucking year," Raven scoffed as she reached into the fold of her short dress and pulled out two pictures.

One was the only picture team STRQ ever took, the day they completed their first mission together in their second year, and the other was of her little wolf. Maybe if she'd actually listened to Summer and came back then all this bullshit would have never gone down. Summer would have had her partner on that mission to Vacuo, Naruto would know both his sister and father, and maybe Qrow wouldn't be such a depressing shit half the time.

"Hm, you really did get the best parts of us, Naruto," Raven said, smiling fondly at the picture of Naruto, before her train of thought suddenly came to a screeching halt when Qrow's earlier words registered.

"Holy shit, do I have a son complex?"

_RIP_

Looking down, Raven's eyes widened at the new found tear that she'd accidentally made on her picture of Naruto, which was odd since she hadn't been holding it all that tightly. A sudden chill ran up Raven's spine when she glanced over at her picture of team STRQ, or more specifically the taped rip that was running through the image of Summer. The same rip that formed the very day she supposedly died!

"Shit!" Raven was on her feet in a matter of seconds, ignoring the pain in her injured body as she rushed around to put on her armor and grab her weapon, "I'm not gonna let this happen a second time!"

(Dash)

Ozpin was the type of man that liked to play the long game, which in his case meant spanning possible lifetimes, and there was nothing more annoying than someone trying to butt in on a fight that wasn't theirs to begin with. By this he meant the kidnapping of the two top first year teams by a seemingly rogue faction of the White Fang, led by a boy that had no concept of how his single minded actions could destroy years of planning. Not only had he taken the Schnee heiress, who would one day take over her family company and possibly provide her allies with an unprecedented amount of backing, but he'd also taken the latest silver eyed warrior and the next inheritor of the Fall Maiden's power. From what young Ms. Belladonna had told him about this Adam Taurus, who was a fanatic in almost every sense of the word, the only reason his students would still be alive is if he was planning to publicly execute them.

"How annoying," Ozpin sighed as he took a sip from his mug, watching his own personal feed of Vale's security system that was near impossible to disconnect through traditional means; in other words blowing up the power grin for the entire city.

"Sir, the authorities have been alerted to what has happened and are scouring the city as we speak. I've also been unable to reach Mr. Uzumaki or Ms. Belladonna, which does make me believe they've been targeted as well," Glynda said as she came marching out of the elevator and right up to Ozpin's desk, a notable look of concern on her face.

"Very good, although I do believe our two unaccounted for students have yet to be captured by the White Fang. If they had been then I have no doubt we'd already be seeing all nine students being executed at this very moment," Ozpin stood up from his desk, grabbed his cane with his free hand, and walked over to the massive window overlooking his academy.

"I'll have them both brought back to Beacon the moment their found," Glynda began, only to be cut off.

"No, inform them of what has happened and then offer help in any way you are able. Despite having left the White Fang, Blake Belladonna no doubt knows the location of every one of their safe-houses in the city and the time wasted bringing them back here would be better spent using that knowledge," Ozpin took another casual sip from his mug, his mind already planning for the worst case scenario in which he loses every valuable asset he has at the moment.

"Sir…"

"I have spoken, Ms. Goodwitch."

Glynda clenched her hand into a fist and narrowed her eyes dangerously, "Yes sir."

Ozpin let out an exasperated sigh once Glynda had left his office, pinching the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt at staving off the impending headache. Life was so much simpler when he was just a wandering warrior living in a world of magic, before his untimely death and Salem pissing off the gods enough to wipe out all of humanity. Back when he still believed good would always win out against evil and rescuing a beautiful princess was the highlight of his entire life. Now look where he was, given an impossible task by the God of Light and being forced to fight his ex-wife lifetime after lifetime.

"A fight I'll always lose, but one that must still be fought."

He was so tired.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

After searching through the fifth supposed White Fang safe house, with the previous four all being empty aside from a few crates and some old school White Fang flags, Naruto was beginning to think that Blake was just being paranoid about the whole thing. Sure finding out she was an ex member of a world recognized terrorist organization, or more specifically a group of people that were practically bandits but on a much larger scale than the Branwen tribe could ever dream of becoming, was rather shocking. On the other hand, it at least proved to Naruto that his partner had a good moral compass, a lot better than his at any rate, and was actively working to make up for her past mistakes. Yet none of this changes the simple fact that they've been wandering around for the better part of four hours with no sign of any actual White Fang activity. The strange thing was that he still hadn't been able to get in contact with Yang or anyone else; a fact that was slowly beginning to worry him.

"Well, that's another empty warehouse we can cross off the list," said Sun, who was in the middle of eating another banana he'd somehow procured without either Naruto or Blake noticing, almost making Naruto wonder where the monkey boy was hiding them.

"This doesn't make any sense, we've checked all their safehouses and still haven't found a trace of them even being here for months. There has to be something I'm missing," Blake all but hissed as she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes in thought; at this point Naruto really just wanted to find the others and go back to Beacon.

"Well hasn't it been some time since you were last with them? If I was in their position, I know I'd find a few more safe houses then you wouldn't know about and abandon the ones that you did. It would be less of a security risk," Naruto pointed out.

"So where do you think we should look," Sun asked his fellow blonde.

"A place close to the border of the city so they could get in and out without too many people noticing, but also a place that has enough traffic that they could blend in with a crowd if needed. We've already checked all the warehouses, so that only really leaves the docks. If they did set up at the docks then they'd have the entire ocean to get lost in and no one would really notice a few extra ships slipping in early in the morning or late at night. Well, at least that's what I'd do if I was in their position."

"At this point we've got nothing else to lose, not to mention it is getting rather late and the last transport to Beacon will be leaving pretty soon. If nothing else we can continue later," Blake summarized, getting a nod of agreement from the other two as all three of them began the long walk across Vale to the docks.

As the group of three walked through the rather busy streets of Vale, Blake surprisingly began to talk about her past with the White Fang and more specifically about the partner she had before she met Naruto and Yang. Apparently he was a swordsman, a trait shared between Naruto and Blake as well, and was so devoted to seeing the Faunus rise up that he went about it in the borderline radical fashion; even for the new rather extremist White Fang. Apparently the final straw for Blake was when he was willing to destroy the entire train full of people just to make a clean getaway with some supplies that were being transported. Blake was now concerned that Adam had somehow made it to Vale and was running the White Fang cell that was stationed here.

"So, on a scale of 1 to 10, how obsessive is this Adam guy?" Naruto asked, although he already had a vague idea what the answer was given by how Blake flinched at the very mention of his name.

"I don't even think it will register on a scale like that. He's possessive, demanding, and when things don't go his way he tends to lash out violently. The scary part is that he can also be cunning when he wants to be, inspiring when he needs to be, and if so devoted what he believes in that he's willing to sacrifice anything and anyone," Blake said, recalling the conversation from not so long ago that she had with Adam about how he was willing to sacrifice any number of Faunus lives if it meant killing just a few more humans.

"Well if he is in Vale, then were going to have to deal with him at one point or another. I've met his type before and it usually doesn't end until someone is buried in the ground," Naruto it seemed that plenty of times when he was both with the tribe and working as a mercenary, with no one coming out unscathed in any of those incidents.

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt but I have a question," Sun interrupted, getting the two partners attention.

"What?"

"So this Adam guy, did he happen to be a bull Faunus? About maybe my height with short red and black hair, a rather emo looking outfit, and attitudes so edgy that it could probably tan a fleas backside?" Blake was rather surprised at Sun's rather spot on description.

"Something like that, why?" Sun's own answer came in the form of him pointing at the TV in a shop window, a TV that clearly showed the very person Sun had just described.

"Oh no," Blake whispered in horror, feeling a pit form in her stomach as one of her greatest fears and now become a gut wrenching reality.

"What the hell is he saying?" Naruto asked as they all clearly saw Adam's mouth moving but couldn't hear him through the large sheet of glass that made up the storefront.

As if the universe was finally throwing him a bone, Adam's face suddenly appeared on a large holographic billboard and his voice came over the city's loudspeakers. Sure enough, the moment Naruto heard his voice he wanted to punch Adam right in the throat.

"_Citizens of Vale, my name is Adam and I bring you a message from the White Fang. For too long the Faunus of this world have been held under the tyrannical boot of you humans. We were the ones first thrown in cages, we were the ones sold into slavery time and time again, and we were the ones that built the very civilization that you all come to know. That ends now, for we have grown tired of working in your minds and building your cities that we are then thrown out of. Before, you sent soldiers after us, now you send these Huntsmen and Huntresses after us. So, just like in ages past when we adapted to fight your soldiers, we now adapt to fight our new hunters. By eliminating them before they can become a threat,_" Adam stepped to the side to reveal something that made Naruto's blood freeze and then boil hot with unbridled rage.

Tied up and chained to a wall was both Naruto's and Ruby's team, with all of them looking to struggle to get free only to be forcefully settled by a rather large looking Faunus that had a weird mix between a chainsaw and a sword. Stepping back into view, Adams once frowning face now sported a rather disturbing grin as it was clear he was just imagining the kind of chaos he was now causing.

"_These seven will be the first to fall in this new war, but that is not to say I won't give you guys a sporting chance to come and save them. Among the populists of Vale there are two individuals that I extend this generous offer out to. A traitor to our cause and her new partner, you know who you are. Come and face me, try and save your friends. By now the authorities will no doubt have traced us to the Vale docks. If anyone but the two I've specified enters the property, then all you will find are seven dead bodies. I'll be waiting, my beloved,_" and with that the transmission suddenly cut off, leaving behind only static in its wake and a city now on the verge of panic.

Yet in this new maelstrom of chaos, in which Blake looked to be on the bridge of a panic attack, Naruto stood there still is a statue. He knew what anger felt like, it was a common trait for members of the Branwen family, it was hot and it felt like it would boil out of your body. But this was different, this wasn't a righteous anger, it didn't blaze like an inferno, it was ice cold and threatened to freeze his very heart. Naruto's mind felt laser focused, memorizing every detail of this Adam that he had just witnessed, but more importantly he saw how truly and utterly terrified Yang was in the background.

He'd seen the tears coming down Ruby's cheeks after that one large Faunus had backhanded her. He'd seen Weiss try and put up a brave front. Pyrrha's body had been slack, hanging limply without even so much as a twitch. Jaune's face looked swollen, as if someone had wailed on him mercilessly long after his aura broke. Even Nora and Ren looked like they'd gone through the ringer, as their aura had been flashing ever so slightly.

"Naruto," Blake's voice was low and filled with caution, she did notice how he hadn't moved a muscle and yet was giving off the most frightening vibe, "What are we going to do?"

Naruto slowly turned on his heel and began marching towards the docks, his scroll already in hand as he pressed several buttons without even looking at them, "I'm going to go down to the docks, I'm going to get our friends back, and then I'm going to butcher every White Fang member that stands between me and Adam. No one attacks those I care about in lives."

* * *

Adam couldn't look more pleased with himself as the connection was cut in his message was delivered. From what his spies had observed, this Naruto person would no doubt come to save those that he cares about, a weakness Adam was more than willing to exploit. It was Blake's decision that was still up in the air; she had a tendency to run away when things got tough and the thought had no doubt crossed her mind by this point. In the end it doesn't matter one way or another, Adam firmly believed that he would kill this Naruto person and then he have all the time in the world to track down his beloved Blake.

"Finish fortifying this place and insure no authorities are able to get in!" Adam barked out, "This is the beginning of a new age for the Faunus and I will stand for nothing less than a complete victory!"

It pleased Adam to no end when those under his command let out a united shout before going back to their assigned tasks with renewed speed. He was also more than pleased that he'd managed to convince the White Fang leader to allow him to select his own members, meaning all those under his command also shared his viewpoint. No one would really second-guess him, no one would report his actions, but more importantly they all obeyed his commands without question.

"You're not... gonna get away with this," leave it to a human to interrupt his brief moment of joy, especially since it was Blake's other new partner.

"I'm not trying to get away with this, in fact I want everyone to know it was me that started it. I want the history books remember who led the Faunus into a true golden age, who ensured that the humans felt what it was like to be caged up like an animal," Adam's smile was positively twisted as he unsheathed his sword and rested the tip under Yang's chin, "But don't worry, you will live past tonight and will actually be one of the lucky ones."

Yang just continued to glare at him, her eyes now set at a steady scarlet, even when she felt the razor-sharp blade draw just the tiniest bit of blood. She knew Naruto was coming for them, she didn't know how she knew but she did, and if he didn't beat the crap out of this Adam guy but not a force on Remnant would stop her from doing it. It was the sound of sirens only a few minutes later that signaled the beginning of a very long night, but Yang just hoped that she really did get to see the end of it.

* * *

When Naruto, Blake, and Sun finally did arrive at the docks they found police cars lying in the area, both officers and other hunters lining the perimeter with weapons drawn, and a whole mob of civilians crowding around the barricades. Naruto's first thought was to just bulldoze his way through the crowd, he wasn't really in the mood to be sneaky about all this and the longer he took meant the more danger his friends were in, but in the end that wasn't necessary. Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch herself seemed to spot the group of three, with a purple aura highlighting some of the barricades and making a path right down the middle for them to proceed unhindered. The flashes of cameras and reporters were nearly deafening as they walked through the now parted crowd, Blake's ears twitched underneath her bow while she kept sending looks at everyone that practically shouted right in her sensitive ears.

Glynda, despite her professionalism and years of being a huntress, could barely suppress the small shiver when she spotted the smoldering icy rage in Naruto's crimson eyes. It almost triggered what one would call a flashback from one Glynda herself was still in training; more specifically of one of her classmates by the name of Raven Branwen. Shaking her head to focus her mind, the blonde haired headmistress motioned for the three students to follow her to what looked to be a command tent.

"I'm glad you managed to make it here, although I wish it was under better circumstances," Glynda said in a rather tired tone, truly wishing that none of them were in this situation but knowing there was little they could do about it now.

"Has anyone been able to locate where our friends are in the warehouse?" Blake was the first one to speak up, jumping right to the point.

"I'm sad to say that this point it would be hard for us to miss them," Glynda said as she pulled out a photograph and handed it to the teens, "It seems this Adam wanted to put on a little show by moving all the hostages to the top of the warehouse where everyone can see them. Our own sharpshooters have also reported that the White Fang has marksmen of their own and have their rifles trained on your friends. We theorize that it's so they would be shot if anyone else but you two enter the property."

"Then I guess there's only one thing left for us to do," Naruto said as he heard a rather loud commotion outside, to which everyone exited the tent and found Naruto's personal weapons locker just floating there along with Blake's.

"Mr. Uzumaki, may I remind you that going in there will no doubt lead to your death," Glynda began as Naruto and Blake began to gear up, "Not only are you severely outnumbered but you're more than likely to be shot the moment you step onto the property."

Glynda was beginning to hate Ozpin's orders right about now; what kind of headmaster orders one of his teachers to help two teenagers walk into a deathtrap? That's beside the point, the real question was what kind of teenager can be so calm and focused when there about to charge headlong into danger? It was a little disturbing, if Glynda was being honest with herself, at how calm and collected Naruto was being right now.

"You know this Adam guy best, is there anything you can think of that might piss him off enough to make him come out of his hole and fight me himself?" Naruto asked Blake as he finished shipping on his mismatched armor and moved to stop his spear to his back and katana to his side.

"General insults towards him might work, but it's not a sure thing, and insulting the Faunus will only provoke the others," Blake looked down in thought before looking up to see Naruto slipping several of his knives into their respective holsters and finally putting on his cloak, "Although there might be one thing, but I don't think you're going to like it."

Naruto just raised an eyebrow.

Sun wasn't going to lie, he felt a little out of place now.

* * *

Cinder didn't know what to make of the orders she'd been given by Salem, or at least she found them confusing to a certain extent. The fact that she was ordered to have her entire group to take up positions around the White Fang occupied warehouse, scrolls in hand and set to record, made the young woman feel a bit underutilized. It wasn't until she spotted Naruto walking towards the main gate that she understood the reason why Salem had taken a sudden interest. Cinder really couldn't help the smirk that formed on her face; they were about to witness quite the show.

"Maybe I won't be so bored after all."

* * *

Raven wasn't going to lie, she was a little depressed with her own capabilities to not be able to find her son until she saw him walking into a heavily fortified warehouse with his Faunus partner; to apparently save his unknown sister and the rest of his friends from the White Fang. She ended up landing on the roof just across the street and well as of everyone's line of sight, holding her side when her sudden transformation and the stress from a long flight sent a jolt of pain through her already injured body. The sound of somebody dropping to the ground next to her didn't even phase Raven, not even when it was revealed to be Qrow.

"I take it you saw the announcement?" Qrow asked, crossing his arms as he too stared out to what would soon become a battlefield, but Raven just shook her head and took out the now torn picture of her son.

"The same thing happened the day that Summer went missing, I've been searching for him for the last few hours," was Raven's reply as she stuff the picture back into the folds of her outfit and resisted the urge to go charging down there and just begin butchering random White Fang members.

"I know that look, but you do know what will happen if you go down there, right?"

"I'm aware of what may happen, but every fiber of my being is telling me to ignore logic and save my kids; maybe even save their friends to," Raven growled out through clenched teeth, her hand instinctively resting on the hilt of her sword even when Qrow reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.

"That's what they would call parental instincts; which apparently you still possess to some frightening degree," Qrow always did try and lighten the mood with rather depressing jokes, but that usually work more for Tai and Summer.

"There has to be something I can do, but I can't figure out what it is. This was always Summer's thing, coming up with plans on the spot, I'm better just charging in and bulldozing anyone that gets to my way."

"You stay up here and keep watch, I'll head down and see what I can figure out and then give you a call. Please don't do anything crazy after I leave," with that said, Qrow transformed back into a bird and flew down towards the command tent, leaving behind one very agitated sister.

"Naruto, please be careful."

* * *

Upon arriving at the perimeter of the warehouse, Naruto and Blake were greeted by the majority of the White Fang forces forming what looked to be a mix between a mob and a firing line; with Adam apparently standing right out in front of it all. Upon looking up, Naruto's crimson eyes made contact with Yang's concerned filled scarlet ones, which he did find rather odd for the briefest of moments considering the rest of her semblance wasn't raging about. It would also seem the other members of their group had awoken and had been actively struggling to break free of their bindings just moments before noticing Naruto and Blake's arrival.

"I was wondering if you would show up, beloved. It seems your time among the lesser species has strengthened your spine just a bit when compared to the last time we enjoyed each other's company," Adam's voice cut through the air like a hot knife, it took all of Blake's willpower not to flinch when he called her that name she hated oh so much.

"Oh, so you're the ex," Naruto replied back in kind, his voice was mocking and filled with the kind of arrogance that would make even Cardin Winchester want to punch him in the face, "I have to say, I can see why she left you."

"Oh, so my beloved talks about me with her new pets, I'm flattered," Adam replied, though there was a subtle undertone of irritation in the red haired Faunus' voice.

"I don't see why, she told me you were a bull Faunus, but all I see standing before me is a chicken. I mean really, instead of handling rejection like a man you go on this big old hunt for her like some rabid _dog_? Talk about a serious stalker. No wonder she wanted to be rid of you, especially after I heard how _small_ minded you are about some things," Naruto mocked even more, holding up his fingers as if to pinch something rather tiny, "Then, just to get her attention, you kidnap all of her friends and throw this big old tantrum. I mean really, how could you get any more pathetic?"

"I'd be very careful about what you say next _human_," by now the smile was cleanly wiped from Adam's face and he looked to be right on the edge of snapping, "Before I order you to be gunned down right in front of everyone watching, including your little girlfriend up there."

"Adam, please stop this…" Blake tried, putting on the timid act rather well.

"Clearly your little spies gave you the wrong information," OK, so maybe Naruto was enjoying himself a bit too much; playing the villainous douchebag was rather entertaining.

"Oh yea, how so?" Adam would soon regret asking that question.

Without any kind of warning at all, not the planets even the stars aligning, Naruto's hand suddenly tangled around Blake's waist as he pulled her in close and claimed her lips in possible the most toe curling kiss the Faunus girl had ever received in her entire life. This may have been her plan to royally piss off Adam, make him make a mistake in a fit of rage, but for just the briefest of moments everything around her faded away and she was in her own little blissful world. Of course that all ended when Naruto suddenly broke the kiss, twirled around with his sword already being drawn and blocked a familiar crimson blade from removing his head from the rest of his body.

"Oh I'm sorry, did that bother you?" a solid and sudden kick to the stomach sent Adam back a few yards, not to mention with everyone now focused on Naruto, Blake made a quick yet brief clone of herself and slipped out of sight.

"I'll kill you, I'll kill you both!" Adam shouted, raising his hand to give the signal for everyone to fire, but naturally Naruto couldn't let that happen.

"Then do it yourself, with your own hands, instead of hiding behind others like the edgy little _bitch_ you are!" Naruto mocked even more, re-sheathing his sword but keeping his hand on the hilt regardless, "Unless you really are just a little _chicken._"

"Shut up. Shut up shut up SHUT UP!" Adam charged in without a second thought; Blake really did have his personality pegged properly, but now it was time for Naruto to focus.

While Naruto and Adam clashed, drawing everyone's attention to such a large spectacle, Blake ran through the maze of shipping containers that lines the outside of the warehouse. Shadows became her friends as she snuck behind White Fang members too preoccupied by the fight the pay attention to their surroundings; a trait that was becoming more and more pronounced as newer and less trained members were being added to their ranks. So it didn't really take her all that long the circle around them all end find a nice easy way to get to the roof of the warehouse where all her friends were being held, guarded by only two Faunus that were also watching the battle more than doing their jobs. It took her a moment to get closer, silently drawing her weapon, and in a flash of movement Blake struck hard and struck fast.

"Blake!" it was Ruby that shouted her name, an odd mix of surprise and mind numbing relief filled her silver eyes, but Blake just shushed her as quickly as she could.

"Don't be so loud, Faunus have good hearing remember?" Ruby nodded her head slowly, she was rather done at this point, "Good, now hold still while I cut you guys loose."

"Blake," Yang suddenly spoke up, her tone hauntingly empty, "After all this is over, we need to talk."

"Right"

"We need to get down there and help Naruto," was the first thing Pyrrha suggested the moment her bindings were cut, looking the most pissed off anyone could recall seeing her.

"That's not part of the plan," Blake cut her off with a small shake of her head, "Naruto's stalling for time so we can get you all to safety. The best thing we can do to help him is to get out of here."

"He's outnumbered down there, we can't just leave him," Ruby tried to argue.

"Blake's right," despite everything going on, Yang still had faith in her partners, "Besides, I get the feeling that while he's outnumbered, these bastards are outmatched."

Sure enough, back out in front of everyone else, Naruto was matching Adam strike for strike and was grinning the whole time. They moved around the small clearing with blurring speed, most could only see them vanish from one spot and reappear in another, but the next time they clashed the two sword wielders entered a blade lock. Even without seeing Adam's eyes, Naruto could still practically taste his bloodlust growing more and more out of control. Blake has certainly been right about the fastest and easiest way to set him off.

"Hm, is that the best you can do?" Naruto hummed, like he was talking to a child trying to hit him with a toy sword, "I have to say I expected more from such a high ranking member of the White Fang. Or should I say former member; after all why wouldn't they cut you loose after such a stupid public stunt such as this?"

"All you do is talk, I'll cut out your filthy human tongue!" Adam broke the blade lock and took a swing at Naruto's head, only for Naruto's free hand to reach out and catch the hilt of Adam's sword; this was then followed by another vicious hit to the gut.

"My filthy _human_ tongue. Now why does it have to be human, why can't it just be a tongue, or are you just prejudice against humans in general. You know, from the way you talk, you sound like one of those human supremacy guys they always write about.

Adam slowly got back to his feet, using his own blade to help himself stand while a bit of blood leaked out of his mouth, "I have had enough, kill him!"

Naruto froze for a moment, as in his entire mind shut down, when he realized he was still surrounded on all sides by some heavily armed White Fang thugs. They had all their weapons trained on him, had no doubt been itching to join in, and were now give the order to do just that. So, to sum it all up, Naruto had just one word to say to this new found position her currently found himself in.

"Fuck."

The bullets came in one massive wave on continuous fire, with everything the White Fang had unloaded upon one single target with enough force to kick up quite the dust clout and obscure Naruto's form. It was only after every single round was spent that the firing finally stopped, meaning the dust could finally settle, and when it did many of them couldn't believe their eyes. For standing there, with not a single scratch on him, was Naruto but with faint traces of odd looking energy slowly soaking back into his skin.

"Well my semblance has never done _that_ before," Naruto grunted to himself before turning his gaze towards the nearest White Fang member and gave him the scariest smile he'd ever seen, "_My turn!_"

The man didn't even get a chance to react before he found a knife buried in his throat, courtesy of Naruto naturally, and his death signaled all hell breaking loose. With no ammo left for their ranged weapons, the White Fang soldiers had no choice but to go in with whatever melee weapons they had. This suited Naruto just fine, he was more skilled at close range fighting anyway. What was supposed to be the slaughter of one teenage boy turned into a deadly dance the likes of which Adam had never seen before; from his current position observing his loyal soldiers getting massacred.

The police watched from a distance, Cinder watched from her own position, and even Raven watched with a bit of pride in her eyes. Unfortunately his friends, who were sneaking towards the exit, also caught a glimpse of Naruto butchering Faunus after Faunus with a ferocity and skill they never even imagined he possessed. Naruto chased them from side to side, always keeping as many of them to his front as he possibly could, and even managed to kill a Faunus with a short sword before stealing said sword to now duel wield. One of them managed to find just a bit more ammo, load it into their weapon, and by the time they managed to take aim he found a short sword flying through the air and into his throat; it almost decapitated him.

Body after body splashed against the now blood stained concrete, littered with severed limbs and spilled guts, until only a panting and blood soaked Naruto stood surrounded by a circle of corpses. Adam had yet to move from his own position, his mind couldn't comprehend how one teenager could slaughter so many of his best troops, and thus he stood there frozen with only his sword in hand.

"_Run_," the word reached across the distance between the two sword wielders and gripped Adam's heard like a vice, waking his mind and bringing him back to reality, "Run away, try and escape me, I want to see how far you'll get."

Adam wanted to attack, every fiber of his being was telling him to attack, but unfortunately he was about to be forced to play Naruto's little game when several bullheads came to a halt over them both, "**THIS IS THE VALE POLICE DEPARTMENT, LAY YOUR WEAPON DOWN ON THE GROUND!**"

"What's it gonna be little chicken?!" Naruto shouted over the wind being kicked up by the bullheads, pointing his katana at the redhead with that same mocking smile on his face.

"Shut up!" all manner of self preservation went out the window and Adam charged, blocking the hail of bullets that came at him from the bullheads and charging up his semblance.

Adam knew that if he didn't take out the bullheads then they would be nothing but a problem and fortunately his semblance was charged just enough to do that. With a war-cry of epic proportion, Adam swung his sword and let off a wave of energy strong enough to completely decimate both bullheads, but he made a mistake. That mistake was simple, one that he found out when his chest exploded in pain. He should have aimed for Naruto. Naruto's sword, that was now on fire of all things, had been shoved through Adam's chest and was now burning him from the inside out. Slowly reaching out, Naruto took Adam's mask off and looked into his eyes and the life slowly left the Faunus.

"No…" was all Adam could get out, Naruto sliding his sword free and letting the now lifeless body drop to the cold hard ground with a dull thud.

"You don't fuck with my pack," Naruto pocketed Adam's masked, sheathed his own sword, and then bent down to collect his opponent's fallen weapon; to the victor go the spoils.

The day was finally over, it was time to rest.

* * *

Ozpin watched from his office computer, a small smile playing across his lips as if he'd finally come to some great realization. He couldn't believe he'd been so blind, that he hadn't seen the similarities, but there was no mistaking it now. Either Qrow had lied to him, which he knew the man wouldn't, or Raven was a better actor than he gave her credit for. Look how splendid her son had turned out to be, the skill he had, the ferocity, the loyalty of his father and the killer instinct of his mother.

"Very well done, Mr. Branwen. Very well done indeed," Ozpin hummed to himself as he entered in a few more keys and sent a coded message to the head of police, "Now to insure you remain out of the spotlight, for now at least. You might just be my best piece yet."

**Ok, so truth time, I hate righting long and drawn out fight scenes. If this was an anime or something then that would be one thing, but I'm so much more comfy writing plot than large action. On the plus side, Adam's dead. So R&R if you would be so kind and, as always, I'm open to new ideas. Also I was thing of doing an RWBY reacts story for this one, so let me know what you all think about that little idea.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Each person had their own special way of dealing with doing something rather dramatic or violent. Some people drowned the memories away in booze, other people found a partner and engaged in some carnal pleasures of the flesh, but it was a rare enough thing to find them sitting quietly under a tree and cleaning their most prized possession. Yet here Naruto sat, his sword resting gently in his lap as he ran a soft cloth over the blade's edge while making sure to clean the blood out of the dust mechanism that ignites the blade in fire. Just a few hours ago, or more like the other night but he hasn't slept so he doesn't count it as a previous day, Naruto had slaughtered an entire group of White Fang extremist down to the last man. He engaged their leader, played with his mind for just a bit, and then stabbed him through the heart before calling it a night. Still, Naruto felt guilty.

Don't jump to conclusions too quickly, because he didn't feel guilty about all the lives he'd taken just hours ago. Those people kidnapped his friends, friends that he hadn't intentionally thought of making when he first infiltrated Beacon, and signed their lives away the moment they said they would publicly execute said friends. They were little more than savages in Naruto's eyes. What Naruto did feel guilty about, what his tired mind wouldn't allow him to forget, was what happened after all the killing was said and done. His friends, those that had never taken human or faunus life, looked at him in a way Naruto had yet to experience before. They'd been afraid of him, or more specifically they were afraid of what they saw him do. Everyone aside from Blake, who had seen her own fare share of violence, couldn't even look him in the eyes. Not even Yang.

"They don't understand what was about to be done to them," Naruto tried to reason with himself, "They've never experienced how horrible people can be. They just don't understand."

Naruto's hands were moving on autopilot now, not even paying attention to how he moved the cloth against the blade. It didn't help that he was also very tired by now, he could feel his eyes growing heavier and heavier as the minutes ticked by, and by this point he was only staying awake through sheer force of will. Despite what his team and friends may no doubt think of him, despite the fact that they watched him butcher people, Naruto swore that he wouldn't rest until he saw them again. This was proving to be easier said than done considering they were taken to the Vale County Hospital and were yet to be allowed to receive visitors.

"Ouch!" Naruto let out a small cry, looking down to see the cloth in his hand had been split in two and he'd end up cutting himself on his own sword; maybe it wasn't such a good idea to clean his weapon while he was struggling to stay awake.

The sound of a message coming to his scroll quickly drew Naruto's attention away from his barley bleeding hand, although he was careful to wrap it before moving to see who had messaged him about what. Naruto felt his heart skip a beat as his eyes scanned over the words, only to read over them again just to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him.

"_**The doctors say they can have visitors now. I'm with Yang and Ruby now but they're both still asleep."**_

_**Blake**_

Naruto was on his feet in a matter of milliseconds, scrambling to sheath his sword as he made a beeline for his dorm room for a quick shower and a change of clothes. Legends would be told about how quickly he moved through the school, running along walls to pass a large crowd of students and literally scaling up the side of the dorms when the elevators wouldn't come fast enough. With a new set of clothes, a bandage around his cut hand, and a quick shower to wash away the stink, Naruto decided it would be a good idea to take a shortcut instead of running through the school once more. Team CFVY, who was just getting back from a mission and was heading to their own room, bore witness to Naruto jumping out of his rooms window. Thankfully he landed on a tree branch that was rather close by, but that didn't slow him down in the slightest.

"Damn, hey Velvet isn't that the guy you were telling us about?" Coco asked, tipping down her sunglasses as they all watched Naruto land in a roll before seamlessly taking off into a sprint towards the transports.

"Y-Yea," Velvet stuttered out, not knowing what to think of what she just saw, "What could he be in such a rush for?"

"A girl, most likely," Coco chuckled, "Only a girl could make someone move that fast and with no sense of self preservation."

"Coco, be serious," Velvet half whined; Coco had to make everything so embarrassing.

"Heh, mark my words, that boy's got a girl on his mind and nothing's standing in his way."

For as sure as Coco had called it, Naruto practically held a gun to the pilot's head and ordered him to take off. This was a bit dramatic of course, Naruto didn't even own a gun, but the pantated Branwen glare had been just as persuasive as any weapon. While he didn't know how Yang and the rest of them would act around him from now on, he was determined to at least be there for them as much as he could.

When Naruto finally did get to the hospital, having snuck in through the back to avoid the literal shitstorm of reporters wanting to interview the _victims_ of the White Fang's latest terrorist attack, it didn't take him long to find out what rooms each of his teammates were in. Needless to say, Yang and Ruby's room was Naruto's first stop, to which he stumbled in to find both girls still sound asleep and Blake sitting in a chair with a book in hand. The faunus girl looked a lot more well rested than Naruto did, that's for sure, but that didn't stop the frown from forming her face at the sight of his baggy eyes and tired smile.

"You haven't slept," it wasn't a question; only an idiot would look at Naruto and think he'd gotten a full night's rest.

"Not in the slightest, not while my team was in the hospital," Naruto grumbled as he pulled up a chair next to Blake, who was subsequently sitting next to Yang's bed, before reaching out to take the unconscious girl's hand in his own.

"Well you're not going to be any good to us if you're dead on your feet," Blake pointed out, watching as the tension left Naruto's shoulders and his eyes began to flutter.

"I'm…(YAWN) fine," Naruto went limp not a second later, his head landing right on Yang's lap while he stubbornly held onto her hand, leaving Blake all on her own once more.

As if Yang knew that Naruto had just fallen asleep, despite the fact that she herself was still very much unconscious, the girls lilac eyes fluttered open to the site of a still very boring hospital room. She'd hoped, beyond all hope, that when she woke up she would be back at Beacon and in her own bed. Because frankly, no matter what anybody would tell you, hospital beds very much suck and Yang had enough back problems as it was.

"Well look who's finally awake, feeling rested?" Blake asked her other partner, putting a bookmark in her spot seeing as it was doubtful she'd get back to it anytime soon; especially now that Yang was awake and she'd no doubt have a lot of questions.

Yang looked around with glassy eyes, still not quite fully awake and aware of her surroundings, but found that when she tried to lift her hand she couldn't. It was probably because Yang was still half asleep that she didn't immediately recognize the fact that Naruto was laying his head on her lap and holding her hand. Who knows what kind of reaction she would've had if she was clear minded, but perhaps that was for the best.

"How long have I been out?" Yang slurred just a bit, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with her unoccupied hand before reaching over to a tray to grab a small cup of water the nurses had left behind.

"Well, after all the checkups the doctors ran on you, the majority of the day. Ruby's been out about the same amount of time, although she was a bit more restless than you were and took a minute to fall asleep," Blake replied, wondering just how long it would take Yang to remember all that had happened last night and what she'd seen Naruto do; not to mention how the other blonde would react to it.

"My head is still a little foggy from those pain meds they gave me," Yang grumbled, "Not to mention now I have a nasty headache."

"You're probably just dehydrated, drink some more water."

Yang did just that, refilling her cup no less than four times and downing them equally as quick, getting about halfway through her fifth cup before deciding to slow down and sip it. Unfortunately, once her brain finished waking up and the headache subsided enough for her to think clearly, all the events from the previous night came rushing back like a movie played on fast-forward. Although two memories were painfully clear. The first being when that Adam guy stomped her into the ground and the second being when she saw her partner, plus not so low-key boyfriend, slicing his way through a whole bunch of White Fang members like a blender. It was like she was watching it in slow motion now, each time his blade sliced through a living person and ripped the life right out of them, staining the ground red. For a moment, the briefest of moments that made icy fingers clenched around Yang's heart, she wanted to rip her hand away from Naruto's grasp.

It was no secret that Yang's dad had raised her and her sister to stand on the moral high ground, much to her uncle Qrow's irritation that they weren't being prepared for the real world, and as such she was always taught that killing another person was a bad thing. This was especially important considering Yang's semblance and how quick she was to anger when she was little. Yet here was someone that she cared deeply about, even admired to a certain extent, and she'd seen him butcher people with such ease. Yet, on the other hand, what little real-world experience Yang did have couldn't help but point out that Naruto had come in guns blazing to save them. He didn't do it because he found joy in it, he didn't do it for some sick pleasure, he did it to save them. Naruto Uzumaki, the one person Yang felt like she could possibly be in a real relationship with, went up against a dangerous terrorist organization just to save his friends.

"Yang?" Blake asked, a bit of concern in her tone when she saw the girl freeze up and her eyes flashed crimson for the briefest of moments.

Yang took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and just let go of all the negative crap that was flowing through her head at the moment, _"I'm fine,_ everything just came back to me but I'm fine."

"Do you want to talk about it; about what happened last night?" one of Blake's catlike ears twitched just a bit; Yang assumed that means she was nervous, or maybe she just heard something.

"I just need to know one thing," Yang began, reaching out and running her fingers through Naruto's spiky hair, "When he heard the news, that we'd all been taken and were gonna be executed on live TV, how did Naruto react?"

Blake seemed to take a minute to consider her words, or she was just trying to remember one specific part of a really long night, "He was angry, angrier than I'd ever seen him before, but he was also focused. He was on the move the moment Adam's broadcast ended, saying that first he was gonna save you guys and then he was gonna rip his way through any White Fang member that stood between him and Adam. His exact words were that no one attacks those he cares about and lives."

Yang sat there and absorbed Blake's words, her gaze never tearing away from Naruto's peacefully sleeping face. She knows those words should've made her a little concerned about the lengths Naruto would go to, but instead she just felt butterflies in her stomach and her heart skip a beat. More importantly, she felt complete. Unfortunately, now that her little mental battle about Naruto was taking care of, Yang's mind instantly zoned in on one other very important fact.

"You kissed my boyfriend," the way she said it was so casual, but the way Blake's entire face lit up and she practically leapt out of her chair was anything but.

"W–W–What!?" Blake hissed, actually hissed like a cat, and thankfully didn't wake up the now passed out Naruto or the lightly snoring Ruby.

"You. Kissed. My. Boyfriend," Blake felt like each word was another nail in her own coffin, she had to think of a way to explain this that didn't end up with her being thrown right out the hospital window.

"It's not what you think!" Blake somehow managed half whisper and half shout, displaying more emotion now then Yang ever remembered seeing before.

"Oh really, I could practically see your toes coil from where I was tied up," Yang spoke so evenly, so unnaturally calm, that it very much unnerved the cat faunus, "In fact it could've sworn that steam was coming out of all four of your ears."

"No no no no no no! That was just to throw Adam off his game, to make him angry and unbalanced!" Blake's face was now completely red, her life was flashing before her very eyes, and she feared what Yang was going to do to her.

"Are you sure, maybe that idea of a Blake sandwich is finally starting to sound pretty good in your head."

Blake's panicking mind ground to a halt at the near cheshire cat smile that almost cut Yang's face writing two. Yang was teasing her, she was being teased, the nerve of this girl! Blake had her arms on Yang shoulders in a matter of seconds, violently shaking her with enough force to somehow knock Naruto right out of his own chair and send him sprawling across the ground with a startled grunt.

"You. Are. The! WORST!" Blake shouted in a very uncharacteristically emotional tone, which somehow Ruby still managed to sleep through even while Naruto was forced to pick himself up off the ground with a rather annoyed look on his face.

Any scathing mark Naruto is about to make was instantly cut off by the sound of Yang's happy laughter, which was like sweet music to his ears. Blake finally seemed to have enough of throttling her more annoying partner and decided to just leave the room with a huff, refusing to look at the now awake Naruto as to hide her still blushing face. She'd get her revenge on Yang, marker her words!

"That girl really needs to learn how to take a joke. As if I'd be that insecure about one little kiss," Yang laughed a bit to herself before turning her attention fully to Naruto.

"Yang..." Naruto tried to begin, only to be silenced when Yang held up her hand and beckoned him forward.

Naruto was about to speak again, now that he was sitting back in his chair, only for Yang to suddenly reach out and pull his head back down onto her lap, "You don't have to explain anything, not right now at least. You came for us, you fought a small army for us, and from the looks of it you haven't slept since yesterday. So just lay there, close your eyes, and don't worry about it for now. We'll all still be here when you wake up."

Whether it was because he was running on fumes or Yang's rather touching words, Naruto lost his ability to speak and finally allowed himself to willingly slip away into dreamland. He felt like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders, one he didn't even know he was carrying, but he could finally sleep while knowing that those he cared about would be alright. He was out like a light, falling asleep to the feeling of Yang running her delicate fingers through his hair.

"I love you," Yang whispered before she closed her own eyes and just relaxed.

Blake watched the whole thing from just outside the door, having cracked it just enough to peer in, wishing that those words could have been directed at herself as well.

"What am I gonna do now?"

* * *

Salem wasn't normally one for nostalgia, in fact she hated being reminded of the past almost as much as she hated the past itself. It was an embarrassment, it made her heart clench with a dull pain, while also turning the blood in her black veins into rivers of lava. Ever since gaining her immortality, ever since diving into the black pits in a vain attempt at finally ending her own life, the need for basic human functions no longer applied to her. She didn't need to eat, years of trying to starve herself made that painfully apparent, and as such her body produced no waste. She also didn't need to sleep, or more like she could choose if she slept or not, which she only ever did when she was first reunited with Ozma. Her castle, which she built from the ruins of her old home, had many bedrooms in which those loyal to her could utilize for their own needs. Salem even had her own room, even if she didn't really require it, and it had long since been unused. Yet, for the first time since it was created, Salem opened its doors with just a twist of her hand and a wave of magic; the torches within lit up with a dark purple fire while a massive crystal hung from the ceiling and radiated the same purple light. What can she say, she was feeling nostalgic.

With little more than the throwaway thought, the loops and braids in Salem's hair unraveled themselves and allowed the delicate strands to fall loosely around her shoulders. Just as her body seemed frozen in time, wanting for nothing, Salem's hair remained as smooth and silky as it had ever been. Next came her long and delicate dress, the same one that she'd worn for hundreds of thousands of years, which slipped off her body like water being ran over a rock. Even with the dark veins criss crossing across her body, or the fact that her skin was so pale that a corpse would be jealous, Salem was still a sight to behold for those that desire the darker things in life. Yet still, despite finally changing her appearance after so long, Salem's face remained a stony mask of indifference. Even when she approached her bed, one modeled after the one she had first shared with Ozma before his first untimely death, no one could see what was going on within her mind. For if they did, if for even a second they could see through Salem's eyes as she looked down upon that bed, they would see a young man and a young woman holding each other close while being as naked as the day they were born.

"How innocent we both were back then," Salem spoke to the ghosts of her past, remembering how so naively in love she was with a man that was as equally in love with her.

She didn't hate Ozma for those first few hundred years after their rather explosive breakup, not to the extent that she did now at least. The death of her children had been a horrible horrible accident, to which they both shared the blame, but she didn't hate him. It was Ozma's next reincarnation that first came after Salem with anger in his heart, fighting his way back to their destroyed home in search of any clues as to where Salem might've gone, only to find her still there. After fighting through the Grimm that had flocked to her, single-handedly no less and with his magic blazing like a fiery beacon, Ozma found her standing in the only room that was untouched by their battle. A large bedroom, decorated in many different colors and with many different toys still scattered around to the day, but most importantly it had four beds all in different corners of the rooms.

Salem had been just standing there, like a living statue, with her long white hair hanging down around her face like a veil. And like a match being blown out by a strong wind, all that righteous anger left Ozma and left behind the hollowness that was clearly present in Salem's eyes. She remembered the sound of him dropping his sword, of removing the well forged steel plated armor, and then on how he moved to stand next to her. They didn't fight, they didn't speak, they didn't even so much as look at each other, but what they did do was something that Salem will never forget. At the same time, moving like mirror images of one another, the two now childless parents simply stood there and held hands. Ozma's will had been so strong back during those days, he had been like a mountain standing in the way of a hurricane. He didn't move from his spot until his body finally gave out, dying only a few days later from dehydration of all things. Salem finally moved after his soul had gone off to find another body, taking the one that had stood next to her and placed it on his old throne. She then sat on hers, folded her hands into her lap, and waited.

Salem's mind came back to the present, her stony mask cracked as a small tear slid down her cheek, before she sat down on her bed and eventually laid down in the same position that her past self once did. So much time had passed since then, so much regret, so much depression and so much anger, and she was just so tired now. It's why she so desperately, even if to her that meant thousands of years of planning, was trying to gather all the gods' relics. She wanted those brothers to return, she wanted them to find Remnant still wanting, and she wanted them to end it all. Ozma had put it best during one of his earlier reincarnations, as much as it had angered Salem back then. This war between them, was little more than history's longest suicide attempt.

"But maybe now I'll have a different way, a way to finally get what I want," Salem spoke to herself, another bad habit that had come from years of being alone before humanity had crawled itself out of the mud once more, "Pure destruction, down to its very core. It might just be enough, but just in case it isn't I'll still collect all the relics. One last slap in Ozma's face, one last story to end this fairy-tale."

Salem turned over so that she was lying on her back, her arms and legs spread out across the black silk sheets, as she effortlessly used her magic to build a figure hovering above her. Crimson eyes stared down into scarlet pools while a strong muscular frame hovered above a feminine one. Salem had witnessed his slaughter of those pesky White Fang, especially the way he so effortlessly killed their leader. The death of Adam was no consequence, his purpose was to merely put Naruto on the board like the rest of them. Sure the young Branwen may just be a pawn right now, but isn't a pawn the most tricky piece in the game? While on their original side they are little more than a sacrificial piece, but if they make it into the lands of the enemy then they can become something truly magnificent.

"To think, Ozma's meddling could make something so wonderful. If he hadn't tried to make those two brats into his agents, then you wouldn't be here," Salem's mask broke once again as her eyes softened and a smile tugged at her lips.

"I know what Ozma will eventually have you do and when he makes his move, when he convinces you to come to me and be his little spy, I'll be waiting with open arms."

Salem had no idea if she was still capable of love, if it hadn't been deformed and twisted along with her body, but perhaps she could love the one that could one day give her peace. Maybe, just maybe, she'll find a reason to live and love life.

"Oh, death," Salem hummed gently, "Don't you spare me over another year."

* * *

Ozpin was a man of refined taste, being alive since before the current incarnation of humanity would do that, and as such he often found himself enjoying the more expensive things in life. A well cooked steak, a glass of red wine, and Ozpin was a happy man for the rest of the day. Although before he would go out to some fancy restaurant or some other high dining place, Ozpin now had his meals delivered to him directly and personally selected what wine he felt like drinking. This refined taste also transmitted over to the clothes he wore, the type of sunglasses he fancied, and even the coffee he drank. It may seem rather funny, but he also preferred that his agents be the best of the best as well, settling for nothing less. So now, as he sat in his tower enjoying his lunch, Ozpin found his mind wandering down many different paths.

Raven, one of the most skilled close quarters fighters he'd ever have the privilege of training, had unknowingly proved him right about her children being special. Yang was a skilled fighter, Ozpin was under no delusion that she got her temperament from her mother and skill from her father, but the truly amazing one was her son. There weren't many people alive that could take on so many fighters, let alone while being so young, and come out with virtually no injuries to speak of. Not even Raven, for all her natural talent with the blade and killer instincts, had even been close to what Naruto seemed to possess at such a young age. That's why, ever since he woke up this morning, Ozpin has been thinking about in what manner he could employ the young Branwen.

Ozpin's first thought was to make him an enforcer, a frontline fighter that could act as a hammer against Salem's forces, but that idea was quickly thrown right out the window. He had plenty of enforcers, technically he had four schools worth of enforcers but that was beside the point, and it would be a waste of Naruto's other talents. To put it simply, Naruto had seemingly infiltrated the Academy personally overseen by Ozpin himself and blended in rather spectacularly. He'd given almost no indication away that he was nothing more than another headstrong student. A natural born spy if given the right motivation.

The sound of the elevator to his office ringing drew Ozpin's attention away from his rather excellently cooked steak and gave him just enough time to focus his mind before both Qrow and Glynda marched right in. It was evident by the way he was swaying that Qrow had been drinking, which wasn't all that much of a shock to those who actually knew the man, and Glynda still had that ever present scowl on her face. From the looks of things, Glynda finally finished cleaning up that little mess that those annoying White Fang left behind, to which it was no wonder she looked more aggravated than normal.

"Ms. Goodwitch, Mr. Branwen, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company during my lunch break?" Ozpin inquired passively, his hands already moving on autopilot to cut another piece of juicy steak before washing it down with a small sip of wine.

"We were able to keep Mr. Uzumaki's name out of both the police reports and the press, which wasn't easy by any means considering the police commissioner is up for reelection and doesn't think it's a good idea to lie to his own superiors. Unfortunately, the parents of the students involved have been calling almost nonstop demanding answers. In the case of Mr. Xiao Long, he threatened to come to the school and throw you out your own window if you didn't call him back today," Glynda replied as dutifully as ever, transferring the necessary files from her scroll to Ozpin's main computer.

"And you, Mr. Branwen?" Ozpin's gaze shifted over to Qrow, who was busy stuffing his flask back inside his jacket.

"Oh me?" Qrow asked, rather mockingly as he dumbly pointed a finger at himself, "I'm just wondering why the hell my nieces were involved in a near public execution."

"Qrow," Ozpin tried to begin, only for the younger man to walk over and slam his hands down on the headmaster's desk.

"Don't _Qrow _me! You told me they'd be safe here! Hell, why wouldn't they be safe here of all places?! Yang I can understand, she's old enough to make her own choices by now, but you promised me that Ruby would be safe!" Qrow snapped, being more than a little drunk and so much more than a little pissed off.

"It wasn't his fault that these things happened," Glynda tried to but in, it was more reflexive than anything else but Qrow didn't quite see it that way.

"If I wanted your opinion on the matter, I'd _fucking_ ask for it," the glare Qrow sent her was soul piercing.

Meanwhile, Ozpin slowly put down his fork and knife before folding his hands together in front of him, matching Qrow's gaze without even blinking. After all the things that Ozpin has seen and done in his life, a drunk and angry Qrow was about as dangerous to him as a kicked puppy. Still, he couldn't afford to lose Qrow as a subordinate and he did trust the man to some extent.

"You're right," Ozpin said with no small amount of conviction, "I promise you that your family would be safe here, a promise that I failed to keep. If not for the efforts of one of our other students, then I dare say we would be burying seven bodies today. I did fail you Qrow, for that I am truly sorry, and I'll do whatever it is in my power to regain the trust that I've broken."

"It's not gonna be that easy this time, not after I nearly lost what little family I have left," with his peace said, Qrow turned around and began swiftly marching back towards the elevator.

"What are you gonna do, Qrow?" Ozpin asked.

"What do you think I'm going to do? I'm gonna try and convince my brother-in-law not to come here and kill you, while also trying to convince myself not to let him," Qrow answered without even looking back, slamming his hand on one of the buttons once he was inside the elevator and not turning around to the door slid shut.

Ozpin missed the way Qrow sobered up and smirked on his way out. Cover still intact.

"He's not wrong," Glynda spoke up, "You've been acting strange lately, giving orders that I never thought you'd give."

Ozpin let out a deep sigh as he reached over to take another sip of wine, "You're quite right, Ms. Goodwitch. I have been acting out of line lately, ordering others to do things that they are uncomfortable with and acting so much like our shared enemy. I think it's about time I start correcting some of these mistakes. Start by removing the cameras hidden within Mr. Uzumaki's dorm room."

"Sir?" Glynda asked, not sure how she personally felt about that given her own recent hobbies.

"After last night's events, Mr. Uzumaki has proven to be trustworthy in my eyes.. In fact, given the skill he displayed, I think I'll take a much more active role in his education," Ozpin said before he felt something wet run down his hand, but when he looked over he saw that a small crack had developed in his wine glass and allowed the red liquid to run all over his hand.

"How frustrating."

* * *

**I know it took a while to get this one out, not to mention my reviews for the last chapter almost doubled, but here's the beginning of the aftermath. Personally I'm not sure if I should take it slow with this portion, really get everyone's perspective on recent events, or dive head first into season two. Also, for those wondering when the long awaited lemon seen between brother and sister (you perverted wonderful readers) will take place, I plan on having it some time during this season. So anyways, R&R if you would be so kind.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Yang hadn't been able to contain her excitement when she learned she was finally getting released from the hospital and was more than cleared to return to Beacon! Ruby wasn't much better in that regard either, shooting into the bathroom in a flurry of rose petals, clothes in hand, and slamming the door right in Yang's face! It reminded Yang of when they stilled lived back on Patch, when they would be late for school and were rushing around like madwomen to get ready on time. Naruto, who finally got some sleep and was feeling more than well rested, just watched the whole thing from his chair; his feet propped up on Yang's now empty bed. Yang just let out a huff before stomping back over to her bed and plopping back down, sending a mild glare at the now closed bathroom door. Naruto wanted to point out how they had all the time in the world and there was no rush, but he valued his life far too much to risk it at over teasing his partner. For the moment at least.

"Oh, just you wait till I get my hands on you," Yang muttered darkly, trying her best to set the door on fire with her mind, before her irritation seemingly slipped away and she turned her attention to the still amused Naruto.

"Has anyone ever told you how cute you look when you pout like that?" Naruto asked, which earned her a middle finger and a raspberry bing blown.

"Don't make me come over there and smack you!" Yang mocked threatened, with no real heat behind her words, "Ruby has always been like this, you should've seen it the first time she used her semblance to beat me to the bathroom. She just unlocked it the previous day and didn't quite have her landing down; so she ended up smacking face first into the shower wall. It would've been even funnier if she hadn't nearly broke her nose doing it."

"I suppose there are some fun points to having a sibling, if for no other reason then you have someone to blame when something in the house goes wrong," Naruto said before letting out a grunt as Yang moved from her spot on the hospital bed to sitting on his lap and leaning her head on the crook of his neck.

"What about you, do you have any siblings?" Yang asked, shifting a bit more to get as comfortable as possible on her new cushion.

"Nope, I'm an only child. Growing up outside the kingdoms meant there wasn't that many resources readily available, so my parents could only really afford to have one kid," it wasn't necessarily a lie, not when you also taken the fact that the tribe was constantly on the move and the Naruto had been the only kid legitimately born into it since his own mother.

"You don't really talk all that much about your past, are you ever going to tell me stories about it? Maybe one day I can meet your parents," Yang mumbled, already tempted to fall asleep for a quick nap now that she was secured safely in Naruto's arms, but ultimately knew that Ruby could walk out at any moment and then she'd have to get dressed herself.

"Hm, my life wasn't really all that interesting before I came to begin and certainly no real fun stories. Also you'd probably only just be meeting my mom, since my dad died when I was young," Naruto replied as easily as he would if he was talking about the weather, mixing in some lies with some truth to make it all the easier to tell Yang.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Yang said and she really was sorry, knowing what it was like to lose a parent herself, "If you don't mind me asking, how did he die?"

"Well, from what my mom told me, a bunch of Grimm attacked the house one day while she was away and my dad stayed in. I was still a baby at the time, tucked away in my room, and so my dad protected me. Apparently he fought the whole hoard by himself and didn't let a single one of them get close to me."

"He sounds like a brave man, I wish I know him, but at least I know you take after him," Yang's words actually made Naruto's heart swell up a bit; he was used to being more compared to his mother than his father and to hear someone say that he was brave like him really made Naruto a bit proud.

"Well yeah, where do you think I get my amazing good looks from?" Naruto laughed as he ran his hand through his hair with a cocky smirk on his face.

"Well now I really have to thank him," Yang laughed a bit as well as she played with one of the buttons on his school shirt, her switch being so close to flipping that it wasn't even funny.

Naruto could feel it too, the way the atmosphere between them suddenly grew heavier and how Yang's hand went from playing with one of his buttons to slipping beneath his shirt and running across his abs. Naruto wanted to remind Yang that they were exactly alone in the room at the moment, that Ruby could walk out at any second and could catch them doing some rather inappropriate things. However, Naruto was still very much a teenager and when the young woman looked at him the same way Yang's currently looking at him, then there really wasn't much he could do to resist. Yang started out slow, shifting just a bit more so now that she was fully laying on top of him with her breasts squashed against his chest. A yelp escaped Yang's lips when Naruto's hands came down on her backside, gripping a big ol hand full of nice squishy flesh, and pulled her up even more.

"Oh, someone's a bit more grabby than normal," Yang moaned just a bit as she wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck and went right in for a kiss, not even bothering to be gentle about it.

Just like that time they shared in the shower, the absolute peak of their desire for one another at the time, Yang felt like her body was going to burst into flames at any moment. The way their tongues danced against each other, twisting this way and that in a way that was well beyond the point of being lewd, made all the fire in Yang's body travel down to her very core and grow hotter and hotter. Naruto was in any better condition, not by a long shot, because with no one else had he never felt so complete; like two puzzle pieces that just fit together to form the same picture. Rough hands continued to paw at Yang's cheeks, slowly pulling her nightgown up further and further until nothing but sweet pale flesh remained. Yang moaned into Naruto's mouth when she felt his hand slap down on her bare skin, sending a wave of pleasure coursing straight up to her brain and sending her even more over the edge.

"Put me on the bed and draw the curtain around us," Yang all but demanded, breaking the kiss just long enough to say those words before diving back in with gusto, and through Naruto's hazed mind he knew exactly where Yang wanted this to go.

Naruto didn't even hesitate, not for one single second, and got up from his chair to practically throw them both onto the bed. Yang wrapped her legs around Naruto's waist the moment he got up, with all of her weight being supported by Naruto's hands holding her ass, and let out a muffled grunt when her back hit the hospital bed.

"You're gonna have to let me go if you want the curtains closed," Naruto grunted, every hormone in his body begged him to not let go of Yang for even a second and yet they did need some sort of privacy.

Yang wasn't even listening now, all she knew was her warmth had pulled away and she oh so desperately wanted it back; damn whoever walked in on them doing the deed! One hand snaked its way down Naruto's body, trailing over the rather tight school shirt that Yang noticed did little to hide the toned body beneath, down past his waist, and finally settling on the barely restrained bulge that threatened to burst out at any second. Naruto, on the other hand, was literally being torn in two directions. On one hand he really _really_, wanted to just go for it and say fuck the consiquences! On the other hand, he was trained enough to know that being caught was the last thing they needed.

"Wha-what are you doing?" Yang moaned in disappointment when Naruto suddenly pulled away, her need filled eyes looking almost betrayed until Naruto suddenly knelt down between her legs with an arrogant smirk on his face.

"Sorry, this is all we can do for now," Yang didn't know how to respond, the sight of Naruto's face between her legs made an embarrassed blush cover her entire face as her hand tried to cover her eyes.

Yang's folds were already soaked, puffy, and drooling in anticipation; she'd been oh so wanting to take this to the next level. An utterly guttural and lewd moan ripped itself from Yang's throat the moment she felt Naruto's tongue lick her from bottom to top, like an icecream cone. She wasn't ashamed to admit that she gushed just a bit right then, not quite fully cumming but close enough to make her hips buck up towards Naruto's face. Now, after sampling his meal, Naruto wrapped his arms around Yang's thighs to hold her in place and dove right in. Yang never stood a chance.

Naruto's only had about three experiences when it came to eating a girl out, but Oum be damned if he wasn't a fast learner! Yang thrashed around at first, her hands flying out to grab the bedrails or Naruto's head to push him in deeper, but before long the pleasure forced her eyes shut.

"Holy shit!" Yang explained, her hand instantly shooting to cover her mouth, when she felt Naruto's tongue roll over a very special spot.

Naruto just grinned before diving in with even more gusto, although this time he completely lifted up Yang's thighs and pulled her down just enough so that she could watch herself being eaten out. Meanwhile Naruto got to watch as Yang's face twisted and contorted with pleasure, making him more than a little prideful.

"Oh-ah-oh-fuck!" Yang felt like she was on the verge of _exploding_, but it _still _wasn't _enough_!

Feeling like a change of position once more, Naruto reversed their positions so that Yang was now the one on top and straddling his face. Hery thick hips were still held firmly in place by Naruto's arms, meaning there was no escape for the blonde bombshell even if she wanted to. Naruto's tongue flicked over her clit like a machine gun, making Yang throw her head back and let out another guttural moan.

"I'm I-I'm gonna d-die. Oh nnn-gh ah shit you tongue's g-gonna kill me!" Yang's eyes threatened to roll into the back of her head and some of her saliva came dribbling out of her mouth, her tongue hanging out like an animal.

On and on it went, with Yang having long since slipped into her own little world and gone completely blind to anything up the feeling of Naruto's tongue ravaging her. She could feel the pressure in her core continue to built and build, to the point she thought it would never stop!

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" Yang swore, biting into her hand to try and keep her moans down; what was left of her mind remembered that Ruby could walk out of the bathroom at any moment!

_BOOM!_

Yang back arched to the point of breaking, her eyes were wide even if her vision went completely white, and then she couldn't feel anything at all. When her vision finally cleared, all Yang could tell was that she'd face planted into her pillow and was still very much smothering Naruto.

"Y-Yang?" Yang's head snapped around, eyes wide with horror, and the sight of poor innocent Ruby standing there with a massive blush on her face.

"Oh grapes."

"W-what are you two d-doing?" Ruby's question felt automated, like she already knew _what_ Naruto and Yang were doing but was too shocked not to ask such an obvious question.

"It's not what it looks like!" Yang blurted out, finally getting off of Naruto's face while doing her best to fix her gown.

"B-But I saw," Ruby's words were like an arrow to the heart, stopping Yang's excuse cold.

"Ruby," Naruto's voice cut through the haze of both girls' minds, even as he finished whipping off his face, "Come here."

Yang wanted to scream, or maybe curl up into a ball and just cry, but either way she just stood there frozen and watched her baby sister sit down on the bed next to Naruto. Ruby refused to look him in the eye, her flushed face practically glowed even now, but how could she after seeing what she just saw. Walking out of the bathroom to find her secret crush doing a naughty thing to her big sister, or that she stood there and watched until the end?

"Ruby, you know that when a boy and a girl like one another they kiss, right?" Naruto asked slowly, reaching out to gently cup Ruby's chin and tilt her head up so she had no choice but to look at him "Right?"

"Y-Yea."

"Well I like your sister, a lot, and people tend to do things without thinking when they like someone so much. Now I'm sorry you had to see what you saw, but I also hope you understand just how much Yang means to me."

"Is it bad… Is it bad to do those things without thinking?" Ruby mumbled, biting her lip and glancing away.

"Not always, but sometimes people don't see it for what it is. Why?" Naruto tilted his head when Ruby looked back up at him, silver eyes shining with vulnerability.

Yang watched the interaction between two of the most important people in her life, unsure as to how she'd ever be able to look at Ruby without feeling completely embarrassed. She'd been caught riding her boyfriend's face and who knows what else; she felt like a horrible sister! At the same time, the part of Yang that she liked to ignore was grinning like a mad woman and jumping around in anticipation for when she could finally go all the way!

"Because I-I'm not going to t-think this through!" Ruby lunged and the world ground to a halt.

_KISS!_

"R-Ruby!" so this is what irony felt like; it sure was a bitch.

* * *

Most people aren't used to being put into life-threatening situations, in fact this often triggers a person's natural flight or fight instinct to the point that it blocks out all sense of reason. For Jaune this first true moment happened not too long ago when he and his friends had been captured by the White Fang extremist organization and were threatening to be executed with all the Vale watching. When he had heard the news, Jaune was a little surprised with how calm he had been, and had in fact been more scared for his teammates than for himself. Yet it had been when one of those White Fang bastards had set their sights on Ruby, that Jaune decided to open his mouth and say some rather uncharacteristically nasty things to them. The only thing running through his mind at the time was that he'd already been responsible for Ruby getting hurt once, but he wasn't just going to stand by and watch it happen again when he knew he could do something. His reward came in the form of a beating the likes of which he'd never had before, not even from Yang.

So now here he lay, the swelling on his face at large actually gone down and his aura had healed the majority of his more dangerous injuries, but he was still very much in pain. While his face had shown the majority of the beating he'd taken, the fact of the matter was that he'd come out of there with the majority of his ribs cracked and at least a fractured cheek. It was very evident that the White Fang didn't appreciate his comments about how their mothers clearly had a more than simple interest in their family pets to give birth to people that were so ugly. In fact, the only thing that had really kept them alive was Naruto showing up and completely decimating all of them.

"Man, they really did a number on you," turning his head to look at the door, Jaune was a bit surprised to see his team leader standing there with his arms crossed and not even a hint of hostility in his eyes; as had normally been present ever since the incident with Ruby.

"Yeah," Jaune muttered weakly, trying his best to sit up but he's still cracked ribs made that rather difficult.

"Here, let me help before you hurt yourself even more," Naruto said, already at Jaune's side and helping him sit out without aggravating his ribs too much, much to the young man's surprise because Naruto had never been so considerate after one of their many training sessions together.

An awkward silence fell between the two blondes the moment Jaune was settled in his new and more comfortable position, but what else would you expect. The last time Jaune had been in this kind of situation it had ended with Naruto pulling a knife on him and threatening him, which he did kinda deserve if he was being honest with himself.

"I heard what you did for Ruby," Naruto said as he placed his hand on Jaune's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze, "Yang and Ruby told me about what happened before I managed to get there. You make sure to protect someone that's very precious to me and Yang, and for that you have my thanks."

"It was nothing, anyone would've done it," Jaune knew that wasn't quite true, from personal experience, but Naruto just shook his head.

"No, there are some people that would've stood by and just let it happen to save their own skin. At one point I was convinced that you would've been one of those kinds of people, especially with your actions in the forest, but I'm glad to be proven wrong in this instance. You saved her from those bastards, you drew their anger to you and spared her whatever they had planned, and for that were even. Yang and I talked about it and as far as we're concerned, there's no more animosity between us. Hell, I'll even stop beating you so bad when we do our training if that's what you want," Naruto joked a bit there near the end, getting a painful chuckle out of Jaune.

"Don't make me laugh," Jaune winced, holding his ribs in a vain attempt to ease the pain, "It kinda hurts when I laugh, or breathe, or do anything really."

"Well, you know what they say; pain is weakness leaving the body," Naruto chuckled.

"I don't want you to, by the way. I don't want you to take it easy on me when we train, not anymore at least. Being here at Beacon, seeing what the grim are capable of, seeing what people in general are capable of, I don't want to be one of those guys that just stands on the sidelines because he's too weak to do anything. I can't do it, not after last night," Jaune admitted, his hands tightening into fists as he thought about what might've been if he hadn't have said anything, if it had been Ruby that had gotten beaten up and said of himself.

Naruto querched an eyebrow, just a bit surprised, "You do understand what you're asking right? It's not gonna be easy and you're gonna spend many days hating me."

"My dad used to always tell me stories when I was growing up, about our family and the legacy we created. I grew up wanting to be so much like my ancestors, to be a strong hero that protects the week, but until now I never realized what it took.," Jaune looked up and stared directly into Naruto's eyes, a small spark of determination was shining brightly within them, "They didn't set out to become heroes, they set out to do the right thing and that's what I want to do. So yes, I understand what I'm asking."

Naruto just nodded his head and grinned a bit, "If I knew this was all it took for you to get a little pep in your step, I would have smacked you around sooner. Alright, the moment you're all healed up we'll get to work on whipping you in the shape. It's not gonna be easy, but I can promise you results."

"Bring it on."

* * *

Not all the members of Naruto's team were in such high spirits after their near execution at the hands of those extremists. Yang and Ruby had one another to lean on, the kind of thing that sisters do in difficult times, while Jaune had found his motivation to grow stronger when push came to shove. Surprisingly enough, or perhaps it really wasn't so surprising, Pyrrha was the one suffering the most mentally out of them all. It's why she was sitting out on one of the hospital's balcony gardens and just staring up at the bright blue sky.

Even with the sun beating down on her from above, Pyrrha felt only the cold winds of failure wash over her. Maybe that's why Naruto almost didn't recognize her when he finally found out where she'd wandered off to; plus the fact that her hair was actually down for the first time outside their dorm room. What was even more concerning was that she didn't even seem to notice Naruto's arrival, especially since he wasn't even trying to sneak around or be stealthy in any sense.

"I never took you for a cloud gazer," Naruto eventually spoke up, frowning when Pyrrha sat up and whipped her head around, a look of fear flashed across her face before vanishing just as quickly when she saw it was only Naruto.

"Oh, hey Naruto," Pyrrha greeted, her smile not quite reaching her eyes, as she watched Naruto move to sit in the chair next to hers.

"Jaune said you might be out here; that you weren't quite acting like yourself," Naruto said.

"Im...I'm just tired is all," Pyrrha crossed her arms and leaned back once more to gaze up at the lazily passing clouds, wishing that she was up there floating away with them.

"Pyrrha Nikos, you are many things but tired is not one of them, and you're an even worse liar. So common, what's bothering you?" Naruto pushed a bit more, Pyrrha turning her head so she could look him in the eyes, and leaned forward while resting his arms on his knees.

"Shouldn't you be talking with Yang right now, I know she's been dying to be with you," Pyrrha tried to avoid the conversation, even though she knew it wasn't healthy to keep all this angst pent up inside, but it was almost like she couldn't force the words out of her throat.

"Yang and Ruby are having a..._conversation_ right now and I felt it was best to give them some space."

(Flashback)

"_Ruby, you can't just go around kissing people!" Yang shouted, more so in exasperation than any real anger._

"_Why not? You do!" Ruby countered, pointing an accusing finger at Yang._

"_Yes, my_ boyfriend_!" Yang countered Ruby's counter while Naruto just sat there looking back and forth between each girl as the argument grew more and more heated._

"_So? I have a crush on him too!"_

"_Naruto, will you please explain to Ruby why she can't just kiss you?!" Yang suddenly turned to where Naruto had been sitting, only to find a dust cloud in his place, the door to her room slowly closing, and the shouts of several hospital personnel shouting as Naruto tore down the hall._

_Say what you want about him, call him a coward, but there was no way in hell he was sticking around for _that _conversation!"_

(End Flashback)

"So common, what's up?"

"I-I feel like I failed," Pyrrha let out half a sob from just admitting that, like half her _Invincible Girl_ mask had just cracked wide open.

"What, but you did nothing wrong?" Naruto had an idea as to where this was coming from and where it was going.

"Ever since I won my first championship tournament, people have been calling me the _Invincible Girl_. My parents and trainers were so proud of me. They even kept saying that there was no way anyone could ever beat me. It was fun at first, all the fans kept cheering me on, and I even started thinking I was invincible. After a while it got dull, I was being treated more like an object than a person, and I just so desperately wanted to be Pyrrha Nikos the normal girl," Pyrrha could feel the tears begin to well up in her eyes, "But all I could think about last night was how powerless I was to do anything. I couldn't stop the White Fang when they ambushed us, I couldn't stop them from hurting my partner, and at the end of the day I couldn't even help you save everyone. I-I just feel so _useless_!"

"Pyrrha…"

"And the worst part about it all, the thing that's really eating me up inside, was that I didn't even try. I was just so afraid, so afraid that if I did something and failed then they'd take it out on everyone else. Some _Invincible Girl_ I turned out to be."

"Pyrrha, it's alright to be scared when you're in a situation like that," Naruto's crimson eyes conveyed nothing but understanding to Pyrrha, who was trying her best to wipe the tears away before they could fall.

"I'm not supposed to be afraid," Pyrrha tried to counter.

"Everyone is afraid when their life is on the line. Hell, I was afraid from the very moment I found out you guys were taken. I kept thinking about what they could be doing to you guys, asking myself if you were already dead. Pyrrha, it's not being afraid that's the problem but what we do while we're afraid."

"But…"

Naruto then did something wholly unexpected, at least to those who didn't watch him grow up. The blonde shot to his feet, grabbed Pyrrha by her shoulders, and forced her to stand up and look him directly in the eyes. Even with her long red hair falling messily over her face, deep crimson and light emerald connected like never before.

"When you're in a situation like that again, Oum forbid it ever happening again, you're gonna have to dig deep and figure out what kind of person you really are. Are you the _Invincible Girl_ who everyone puts up on a pedestal, more of an object than a person, or are you Pyrrha Nikos; the girl who would fight the world to save her friends?"

(End if First Semester)

Yang didn't quite know how to feel about the fact that she and Ruby were leaving Beacon, even if it was for only about two weeks until the next semester started up again. It had taken every ounce of her power to convince her dad not to come flying down to Beacon and collect his children the moment they got out of the hospital. She'd accomplish this mostly by convincing him they would come down for a visit and spend the whole two weeks with him. Unfortunately, the other half of Yang's plan to convince Naruto and Blake to join her head completely fell through. Blake decided to go back to her hometown and visit her parents for the first time in quite a while, to which she was most definitely anxious about. Naruto had said he was doing much the same thing and that he'd probably be out of scroll service for the entire two weeks, which ruined Yang's other plan to send him some rather risqué pictures. Ruby had also tried to convince her own team to come along, but Weiss wanted to catch up on some studying while Nora and Ren had their own little mini vacation planned out. Even Pyrrha and Jaune had plans!

So now here they were, all five of them assembled in their dorm room, casually lounging around while waiting for the call that their transports were leaving. Naruto himself was casually relaxing on the windowsill, one leg propped up on it while the other was planted on the small nightstand just underneath it. Yang was lounging around with Blake, the both of them deciding to steal Naruto's bed since he clearly wasn't using it, with the dark-haired girl reading one of her many books while the blonde looked to be playing one of her many games on her scroll. Jaune was actually doing something nobody had expected him to do, which was maintaining his family weapon and he looked rather content doing it. Then there was Pyrrha, who had finally finished packing all the things she wanted to take back home.

"Come on guys, there's plenty of room at the house!" Yang practically whined as she closed her scroll and dropped it on the bed, having spent the last hour trying to convince her teammates to once again come to Patch with her and Ruby.

"Yang," Blake said with an exhausted sigh, "You've been trying to convince us for days. We all have our own plans to go see our own families over the break, please just let it rest."

"Well how about over summer vacation? We can always get together for a few weeks!" Yang tried to convince them, but judging by their faces it didn't seem to be working.

"How about no?" Blake asked, rolling her eyes, only to let out a yelp when she felt Yang poke her in her side.

"Please! Please! Please!" Yang begged again and again, continuously poking Blake in her ticklish side until the cat Faunus finally managed to catch her hand.

"Keep poking me and you'll lose your finger!" It should be noted that Blake's cheeks were rather flushed as she all but held Yang's hand, fully aware of the massive grin that was on her partner's face.

"Oh, don't tempt me with a good time!"

Watching from the windowsill as his two partners and other teammates devolved into mindless conversation, Naruto could feel the positive aura that just filled the room. It was almost just like the last time he was back with the tribe, the way they all just trusted each other despite having not known each other for all that long. At this thought Naruto crossed his arms, that happy feeling of camaraderie having just instantly clashed with the fact that these people weren't supposed to be his friends. It really was a weakness of his, Raven always used to say that he grew attached to people too quickly and cared about them too much. Sure they weren't his targets, but he'd base their entire relationships together on a lie. He has to come up with something and fast.

Feeling a pair of warm lips press against his cheek, Naruto found Yang standing there with a big old smile on her face.

"You looked a little lost in thought there," Yang said as she jumped up onto the other side of the windowsill and copied Naruto's pose almost perfectly.

"I guess I'm just anxious to head home after so long, it's been a while and I didn't exactly leave on the best of terms," Naruto said, glancing out the window just as a raven flew by and landed on the tree branch just outside.

"You can always come to my house, I'm sure my dad would love to meet you," Naruto just rolled his eyes at Yang's blatant attempt to get him to go with her.

"I think I'll pass on that for now, but thanks for offering," there was no mistaking the sarcasm in Naruto's voice, "Besides, I think it'll be a good thing for all of us to head home for a bit."

"Hey listen, you mind coming with me for a minute? There's something I want to give you."

Naruto just nodded his head without a second thought, taking Yang's hand as she led him out of their dorm room and deeper into the school. It may have taken them about twenty minutes to get to their destination, but there was no mistaking the massive steel door that led to the weapons department. It's where all the students at Beacon could go to work on their equipment, which in other words meant it was Ruby's second home where she spent what little of her free time she still had. When the massive steel door finally slid open, Naruto really shouldn't have been surprised to see Ruby standing there with a thousand watt smile on her face; not to mention a small blush while she avoided eye contact with him.

"It's not what you're thinking," Yang suddenly said, turning to Naruto with a sly grin, "You're not getting a threesome with me and Ruby."

Naruto and Ruby both sputtered at that, one in clear horrified embarrassment and the other in exasperation, while Yang just let out a laugh, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding, don't get so worked up you guys."

Ruby just glared up at her big sister, contemplating how likely she could get away with shaving the blonde's head while they were at home. Wouldn't that be quite a sight?

"Stupid Yang," Ruby mumbled as she grabbed a box that was sitting on a nearby workbench, with the box itself being rather long, and walked up to Naruto before holding it out.

"Oh, what's this?" Naruto asked, noting that the box was a little heavier than he expected.

"Open it and find out, dummy," Yang teased as she moved over next to Ruby and put her arm over the smaller girl's shoulder, the both of them watching his Naruto didn't even hesitate to start ripping into the box.

Naruto's eyes widened before growing soft at what he saw, which oddly enough reminded Yang of Ruby. Resting in the box was clearly a katana, but that was the only similarity it shared with the ancient weapon. This one looked hyper advanced, with even the sheath looking like it belonged on some sort of futuristic weapon, and don't even get him started on what was attached to the sheath. As someone who grew up wielding a sword, especially this kind of sword, he couldn't help but reach in and pull it out to admire it. Placing his hand on the hilt, which was a solid black piece of metal with red grips that glowed ever so slightly, Naruto was a bit surprised when the red on the hilt flashed green and he was able to pull the sword free from a sheath. The blade itself was solid red in color but with veins of dark yellow running down it. What may seem like a simple aesthetic to others, a way to make the weapon look all fancy, Naruto saw it for what it really was. He didn't know how Ruby and Yang had done it, but they'd managed to fuse fire dust into solid metal without it melting and added in veins of lightning dust for some extra kick.

"I think he likes it," Yang whispered to Ruby, who was also in a trance at seeing her latest creation being marveled at by her crush.

"Amazing, simply amazing," Naruto said rather breathlessly before turning to the two sisters, "But why, how?"

"It was Yang's idea," Ruby spoke up, "She thought we should make you something, since you saved us and all. We talked to some of our teachers about where to get the right materials and even got Headmaster Ozpin's approval to order them. The sheath design was my idea, which I got from my Crescent Rose."

"I was wondering why it looked like somebody gutted a sniper rifle and shoved the sword inside of it. I take it if I pull the trigger it'll launch the blade out at high speeds?" Naruto asked, sheathing the blade and putting it back inside the box.

"We figured if you could draw your sword faster than you could get done fighting faster," Yang said with a shrug.

"That's why we designed that harness with the movable arm. When you pull the trigger the arm will dampen the recoil, that way the sheath isn't blown out of your hand, but you might want to make sure you have a strong grip on the sword first."

Naruto couldn't remember the last time somebody got him a gift like this, or maybe it was simply that nobody had ever gotten him a gift like this. So he did the only thing he could do. He pulled both the sisters into a hug, kissed Ruby on her cheek, and then kissed Yang square on the lips. What an adventure this whole job was turning out to be.

* * *

**OK****, so this is the official end to the first semester. I'm gonna take a small break, plan out how I want the second one to go, and I should be back to posting in no time at all.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

The old saying goes that home is where the heart is and if that's the case then Naruto's home was among the rowdy bandits of the Branwen tribe, usually located deep in some forest somewhere on Remnant; depending on where Raven thought would be the best place to set up. A little over a year since the last time he saw them, Naruto couldn't help but notice that there were some faces missing and some other faces that he didn't recognize. Still, walking through one of Raven's portals and into the middle of the tribe's camp brought back quite a bit of nostalgia. Both of his swords were in a traveling case held loosely in his left hand while his bow and quiver full of arrows were snuggly attached to his back. Raven stepped out of the portal a moment later, placing her hand on Naruto's shoulder and smiling at him in a way that only a proud mother could.

"Welcome home, little wolf," Raven said just as the rest of the tribe members noticed the new arrivals, whispers breaking out about the return of their leader's son and how he'd grown so much in just a year.

"No place like it," Naruto replied.

"Well well well, look who finally decided to come back!" A voice called from within the crowd of bandits, who soon parted ways to reveal a young woman not much older than Naruto himself.

Dressed in a white torn shirt with a brown vest over it, maroon colored pants with the right side brought up to her thigh, and dark brown knee guards that go down to her brown boots. There was no mistaking one of Naruto's oldest friends. Needless to say, Naruto and Vernal had caused quite a bit of mischief in their younger years, before Naruto had undergone his final rite of passage and snuck off in the middle of the night.

Unfortunately, along with her mischief, Vernal was also well known for her temper; which she properly displayed by walking up to Naruto and straight up decking him. The punch was nowhere near as strong as Yang's, although Naruto thought no one's punch could be as strong as Yang's, it still made both their auras flicker from the impact alone. This also made everyone tense, with the older bandit members knowing just how protective Raven was of her son while the newer ones thought a fight was about to break out at any moment.

Yet when Naruto finally faced Vernal again, rubbing his jaw but with a smirk on his face, he just let out a small laugh, "You still hit like a girl."

"That's because I am a girl, idiot. Now give me a hug you dumb blonde," Vernal chuckled back as the two embraced, with Naruto actually lifting her up off the ground and spinning her around once before putting her back down.

"I see you finally decided to cut that rat's nest that you called hair," Naruto teased, messing up Vernal's hair before she slapped his hand away, "I think this looks suit you."

"Oh yeah, because I care so much about your opinion," Vernal snarked back, rolling her eyes dramatically.

"Well, I'm glad you think so highly of me," that little comment got Naruto a solid punch to the shoulder.

"Naruto," Raven cut in, "You two can reacquaint yourselves later, we should get your stuff put away."

"Right, catch you on the flip side," Naruto said, sending a wave over his shoulder while Vernal responded in kind by flipping him off.

Raven's tent hadn't changed a bit since the last time Naruto was in it, except for the literal pile of empty booze bottles in the corner and one of her knives buried into the main pillar. The bed was still a mess, random items were thrown about the floor, and more than one pair of clothing was somehow hanging on more than one of the unlit torches. Should he find it strange just how much his girlfriend's untidiness resembled his mother's, could it say something about his own mentality? Nah, it was just his imagination.

(All the readers cry out in agony over the author's baiting)

Tossing his stuff down, Naruto moved over to the firepit and wasted little time in making a few sparks; Raven was more than happy to see he hadn't grown soft during his time at Beacon. After hanging up her own weapon on it's rack, Raven went to do the same to Naruto's own. Imagine her surprise when she opens his weapons case and fines not one but two swords staring back at her. The first one she recognized, Naruto had been gushing for days after he finally finished building his first weapon, but hauntingly enough the second one looked familiar too. It was one of the first designs Summer Rose came up with before they finally settled on Omen, although that was mostly due to Raven wanting a variety of dust blades instead of just one.

"This is a new one, did you make it?" Raven inquired innocently, or as innocently as a bandit queen possibly could, slowly drawing the weapon out a bit to have a better look at the blade.

"It's a gift, actually. My teammate's little sister made it after that whole incident with the White Fang. She managed to infuse red dust into the blade and…"

"Implement lightning dust for a little extra kick," Raven finished with a grin, "I can see, you know."

Naruto just rolled his eyes, "Anyway, she practically gutted a sniper rifle and turned it into a sheath. Supposedly I can use it to draw the weapon faster, but the harness with the arm is supposed to keep it from flying out of my hand when I pull the trigger."

"Hm, the materials are high value, no doubt about that. Is this really what they're letting you students build now?" Raven muttered that last bit to herself, sheathing the blade fully before moving to put both her son's weapons on the rack next to her own, "But the real question is what happened to that armor you had?"

"Oh that? It broke a while ago and I guess I just haven't got around to fixing or replacing it. Besides, it was more of a mixed set than anything built just for me. Half of it I got during my travels, even the breastplate I found while wandering the desert," Naruto said with a shrug, leaning his bow and quiver up against his own bed, located just a few feet away from Raven's own, before sitting down with an almost content sigh.

"We should make you a proper set while you're here. It's good to have a second line of defense if your aura breaks in the middle of a fight," Raven could count the number of times her armor saved her skin on both hands, thanks to Summer convincing her to make some during their first year together as a team.

"Right, but we have plenty of time for that," Naruto just waved it off, hiding his smirk when he saw Raven's eye twitch at his clear dismissal, it was good to see that some things still stayed the same after he left home.

"Well," Raven growled, crossing her arms, "If we've got so much time then maybe we should do some mother and son bonding; the Branwen style."

It should be noted that Naruto's reaction time was even better now than when he first set off on his own, catching the knife that was suddenly thrown at him while also flipping off his bed and landing in a crouch. Another roll got him out of the way of Raven's sword, which she retrieved from the rack after distracting Naruto, and allowed the blonde to not only grab his own original sword but also go sprinting out of the tent. Raven's frown turned into a grin for just a split second; her little wolf was growing up so fast!

"Now lets see if you can take on mamma wolf."

The newer bandits of the Branwen tribe, at least those that had joined in the last year and didn't know anything about their leader's son, were still growing quite used to Raven's form of leadership and all that it entails. Some of them had come off the streets of one of the major kingdoms, little more than thugs and gangsters that had to get out before the law finally caught up to them, and as such they didn't often know how to react when shit started to go down. So when Naruto came sprinting out of the tent, only stopping when he reached the middle of the camp, they were wholly unprepared for Raven to come charging after him with her sword drawn. More than a few of the new bloods went for their weapons, but luckily for them the older bandits kept them from doing anything to get themselves killed.

Naruto turned around just in time to block Raven's overhead strike, drawing his blade just enough to not damage the scabbed but still keep up his defence, before he jumped back a bit to get some distance between the two of them. He had to admit, after the disappointing fight with Adam, Naruto was looking forward to fighting a skilled sword user that wasn't also his teammate. It's why he secured the sheath to his side and pulled his sword out to grip it with both hands, his stance wide enough to properly ground him and his crimson eyes burning in anticipation.

It should be noted Vernal started a betting poll at this very moment.

In the blink of an eye both mother and son seemed to vanish before meeting in a savage blade lock, with Naruto's stronger physical build giving him an edge over Raven's enough for him to break the lock just a few moments later. Raven, in kind, swung out with the intent to take Naruto's head, or at least regain her footing as she stumbled back. Naruto naturally deflected it, only to have to step back himself just as Raven came down with an overhead strike!

Back and forth they went, their blades sparking with every block and deflect, making it look more like a performance than an actual fight.

Naruto came in with a thrust, but Raven practically danced out of the way and swung diagonally to slice his chest. He shifted his weight just enough so that the blow glided right past him before coming down with a devastating overhead blow, which Raven managed to stop cold by bracing both her hilt and blade with a hand each. Their blows connect twice overhead, once down below, before Raven dropped into a spin and swung for Naruto's legs. He managed to jump back just enough to avoid the slash before jumping right back in.

"Ha, you've gotten better!" this was even better than when she watched her son take on the Adam guy, she was so proud!

"I'd hope so, it's been more than a year since our last fight!" Naruto just managed to block a strike to his side, batting it away with a simple swipe of his own blade before thrusting right for Raven's heart; anything less would be insulting!

Raven just barely managed to move to the side and let the blade glance off her shoulder instead of taking a direct hit, her aura flickering for just a moment from the harsh impact. Her arm shot up a second later as well, blocking a kick that even made _her_ bones rattle just a bit. It seemed her son not only inherited her gifts with a blade but some of his father's strength as well! Naruto may not have been as strong as Taiyang, her daughter got that part judging by what she'd seen, but their son was no slouch!

A crack formed along Raven's dust blade after their next clash, giving her an idea! When next they swung, both aiming for the neck, Raven made sure it connected right on the crack. All but eight inches of her blade shattered, but she was already within Naruto's guard! Raven tackled her son to the ground with all the force she could manage, even going so far as to pump some aura into her legs for just a bit more kick, and down they both went.

Naruto landed on his back with a grunt, Raven landed right on top of him with what was left of her sworn positioned right at his throat. For all the people watching, Raven was the winner. Or so it would appear.

"Looks like you're still a few years too young to win against me, little wolf," Raven grinned, heart pounding in her ears from the adrenaline, only to wince when she felt something poke her side rather painfully.

"I don't know, I think it might be a few months at this point," Naruto grinned, tapping the area right over her liver with his knife and at such an angle that it would slip right in-between the third and fourth rib.

Had Raven mentioned how proud she was of her son lately?

Letting out a bark of a laugh, Raven pulled the shattered remains of her blade away from Naruto's throat and hauled them both back up to their feet, "My son has returned and is better than ever! Lets celebrate!"

Naruto couldn't help but smile a truly happy smile, "There's no place like home."

* * *

While Naruto was off having a fun time getting reacquainted with his family, if you could call a tribe of bandits that to begin with, his black haired partner wasn't quite in the same boat. The last time Blake had been on Menagerie didn't end as well as it could have, or more accurately she called her parents cowards for leaving the White Fang before running away from home. Yea, not her proudest moment by far, and with Kuo Kuana in sight the fear she felt started growing worse and worse. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, would it have been better to just hang out with Yang for two weeks, did her parents even miss her while she was gone? Blake just wanted to run away again, like she did the first time or when it became clear the White Fang were getting more and more radical.

"_Face it Blake, you may have overreacted just a bit,_" Naruto's words echoed through Blake's mind from the last time she took off without letting everything play out; she was still a little embarrassed about that by the way.

"OK, Blake, you can do this," Blake repeated like a mantra, reaching up to remove the bow from atop her head, her cat ears twitching at every little sound, "Just imagine what Yang would do."

The thought of herself charging into her old home, bad puns flying left, right, and center, made Blake cringe, "Never mind, imagine what Naruto would do. Yea, better than Yang."

Within a matter of minutes, the ship came to a slow stop at the large docks and the ramp lowered to allow passengers to go about their business in the city. Blake made sure she was the last on off, giving her all the time she needed to mentally compose herself before facing the ghosts of her past. It sounded much more poetic in her head, really it did.

"My baby girl is home!" Blake was blindsided the very moment she stepped off the boat, not even her years of training could save her.

Kali Belladonna may have been Blake's mother, but she sure didn't look like it. If anything, with how young Kali looked, most people often thought that at most she was Blake's older sister. She was also still fit for a woman her age and received many compliments from younger men, when her husband wasn't around of course. Still, despite being about Blake's size and weight, she managed to practically bulldoze her daughter with a flying hug. If Naruto and Yang were there to witness it, Blake could only imagine the type of comments they'd be making right about now.

"I can't believe how much you've grown!" Kali shouted as she hauled her daughter back up to her feet before giving her an almost spine snapping hug.

"Mom! Can't! Breathe!" Blake barely managed to get out, her golden eyes almost rolling to the back of her head from the lack of oxygen getting to her brain, but thankfully Kelly seemed to get the message and loosened up just enough for her daughter to breathe.

"Have you been? Have you made any friends at Beacon? What's your team like? Do you have a boyfriend? Do you have a girlfriend? Have you been eating properly?" Kelly began to rattle off question after question, barely even taking a breath in between sentences, leaving Blake to really consider calling up Yang and seeing if it was too late to join her.

"Settle down, Kali," the gruff voice for father, the mountain of a man named Ghira belladonna, spoke up, "There's plenty of time for questions later. You're gonna smother her again."

Kali looked absolutely insulted at Ghira's words, "I am not smothering her! I'm asking all the important questions that a mother should after not seeing her daughter and so long!"

"By asking her about boys?" Ghira's eyebrow rose just a bit, a certain tone now present in his voice, while Kali just gave him one of her mischievous looks.

"Um, hi dad," Blake said softly, feeling more than just physically small in front of her father; she'd said some especially nasty things to him the last time they were together.

Blake expected Ghira to be furious with her, he certainly didn't hold back the night of their big fight, but instead of getting a hard stare and maybe some not so nice words she found herself wrapped up in a nice warm hug. Of course a few seconds later her feet were lifted right off the ground and she was spun around a few times, the sound of her dad's laughter almost melting her heart, before being put down and having two big hands rested on both her shoulders. Ghira's eyes practically glowed with happiness at the site of his baby girl, his little kitten, the only other female in his life that had him completely wrapped around her finger from the moment he laid eyes on her.

"Welcome home, little kitten," Ghira had never looked so vulnerable in front of his daughter, a bit of pink dusting Blake's cheeks at her childhood nickname.

"There's no place like it, dad," Blake buried her face in her dad's strong chest, doing her absolute best to wrap her arms around him.

"Well this is just the sweetest thing I've ever seen," Kali said softly, her head doing a cute little tilt while one ear fell flat and the other one twitched.

"Mom!" Blake whined.

"We do not do sweet things!" Ghira continued in almost the same tone of voice, like father like daughter, "We do awesome things!"

"Of course, of course, how silly of me," Kelly tried to stifle her laugh with her hand, ultimately failing, "But we really should be getting back soon, if you both still want me to cook dinner."

Both father and daughter perked up at that, Kelly's cooking was legendary among the Belladonna household. One time she got into such a foul mood with the both of them that she stopped cooking for an entire week. Blake remembered those as the dark ages!

"Yeah, let's go home."

By the time night had fallen, all three members of the Belladonna household were sitting out on their back porch overlooking the ocean. Blake was still relieved that her mom's cooking hadn't degraded in the slightest since she left, with all three of them being stuffed to the brim. In fact, much like the animal she shared traits with, Blake was curled up on the swing next to her mom with her head resting on the older woman's lap. Ghira, much to his own grumbling, was forced to take one of the cushioned chairs next to the swing.

Blake felt like she was about to fall asleep at any moment, one of her ears twitching for just a moment as Kali started to run her fingers through Blake's long locks. Maybe that's why she didn't notice when Kali ended up swiping her scroll, opening it, and meandering through the various new pictures.

"Aw, doesn't this just make you wish you had a brother, Blake?" Kali practically cooed, showing Blake the pictures she'd taken of Naruto and Yang the very first time they'd slept in the same bed together.

"They're not siblings, mom. That's my team leader, Naruto Uzumaki, and our shared partner, Yang Xiao Long. They're actually in a relationship," Blake tried not to let the jealousy slip into her voice at that last bit, but thankfully only Kali managed to catch it and not Ghira.

"You sound rather fond of them," Ghira spoke up, putting aside his fatherly instinct about the boy in the picture, "Did you tell them that you were a Faunus?"

"They actually figured out before I could tell them, but they didn't bring it up until I just about had a meltdown when some of our other friends found out. Naruto actually made me feel little stupid, the way I jumped to conclusions about them without giving them a chance. It was his words that convinced me to come back here when I wanted to run away again," Blake admitted, not looking up to see the surprised look her parents shared.

"Little kitten?" Kali asked, the rest of the question not needing to be asked.

"It was after he got done explaining all the reasons my friends wouldn't judge me for being a Faunus. He said that I may have overreacted just a bit. On my way here I kept thinking about how everything could go wrong, about what if you guys are still mad at me. I was just gonna stay on the ship, see if I could get a ride back to Vale maybe, but then I remembered what he said," Blake wasn't expecting to have the life squeezed out of her again, was her mother's semblance super strength?

"You never have to be scared of coming home, no matter what. You could've run away for twenty years and we'd still welcome you back," Kali half said and half sobbed.

"Not saying that we want you to run away for twenty years," Ghira cut in with the manly chuckle, because he was a man and a man doesn't cry, "But you're our daughter, Blake, and we'll never turn you away. This will always be your home."

Blake felt like her walls were slowly beginning to crack and fall down, until she was rendered little more than a sobbing mess in her mom's arms. Everything she kept bottled up since leaving home was now suddenly let loose, free from the death grip she kept her emotions in. She'd never take her parents for granted again, she'd never take anything for granted again.

"I love you both so much."

"Now tell us about your team, I want to know all about your adventures at Beacon."

* * *

Yang didn't know how she'd feel seeing her old home again, even if it really only had been one semester since she and Ruby went off to Beacon to start their own lives as huntresses, but she really didn't expect to feel so emotional! The sight of this boring old house, with its white fence, the garden Summer planted when they were kids and that he dad now takes care of in her memory! Then, to top it all off, Tai was standing on the front porch with the same stupid grin on his face; the one she inherited from him!

"Welcome home, gir-oof!" Tai couldn't even get out a proper greeting before his youngest daughter, and by far the one he worried about the most, slammed into his gut and nearly sent them both to the ground.

"Dad! Dad! Dad! You wouldn't believe all the stuff I've learned at Beacon! There's so many different kinds of Grimm to fight, people have so many different semblances, and I found so many new types of weapons! There's even a sword that can catch on _fire!_" Tai didn't have the first clue what his youngest was saying, to be honest she was a lot like Summer when she got like this, but he would put up with it if it meant she was already recovering from what happened with the Fang.

"Jeez, Ruby, it's like you didn't miss dad at _all_," Yang teased, walking up the porch steps with both hers and Ruby's bags; filled to the brim with everything they'd need for their time away from Beacon.

Ruby did the mature thing and blew a raspberry at her sister.

"It's fine, I'm just glad to have my girls home. Even if it is only for a little bit," Tai said as he got up off the ground, Ruby's nonexistent weight not being too much for him to handle, and pulled both girls into a family hug before either of them could escape.

"Daaad, common, you're embarrassing me," Yang didn't even try to pull away, but she did have a reputation to uphold.

"_What, no welcome home hug for me?_" came a voice from the doorway behind Tai, a voice both girls recognized.

"UNCLE QROW!" Ruby slipped out of Tai's embrace in a flurry of rose petals, getting more than a few of them in Yang's hair, and latched onto the young Branwen twin's arm with a near defending squeal, "Did you miss us, huh?! Did ya?!"

Qrow seemed to think about it for a moment, grinning, "Nope!" and dropped Ruby like a sack of potatoes.

"Get tired of chasing around girls half you age?" Yang jabbed, making Qrow adopt a hurt expression with both hands over his heart.

"That hurts, firecracker, right here in my heart."

Yang grinned some more, "That might just be the heartburn from all the fast food you eat."

"Alright, alright, save it for _after_ dinner you two," Tai said, getting in the middle of the uncle and niece, "Why don't you two go put your things away and wash up. We'll be eating in a little bit."

Ruby didn't even grab her things from Yang before shooting into the house, right past Qrow. Yang just let out an exasperated sigh as she followed right after, although not before giving her uncle a quick hug and a smirk that reminded him far too much of Raven. Once they were both inside, the air between Qrow and Tai turned just a bit more serious.

"Have you heard anything from Raven yet, does she know what almost happened to Yang?" Tai asked, having called upon Qrow to deliver the message when he couldn't reach the mother of his eldest.

Qrow let out a grunt, still feeling a bit sore from his long flight, "That's what I wanted to talk to you about in person; I couldn't risk someone overhearing our calls. Raven was there that night, at the docks."

"W-What?" Tai didn't quite know how he should take that, "She was there a-and didn't do anything?"

"Not quite," Qrow cut Tai off before he could come to the wrong conclusion, "She was about two seconds from charging in there and butchering them all before something else happened. Something no one really expected to be honest."

Tai did feel a little relieved at that bit of information, his shoulders slacking for just a moment, "Then what happened, because the news and everyone else said a group of veteran hunters got them all out?"

"That's just a cover story Oz came up with. It was actually a single person, a student to be more specific, and if you want to get even more specific than that it was Yang's team leader. Old Oz has been having me keep an eye on the kid, thinking he was one of _you know who's_ enforcers, but now he's not so sure. Anyway, the kid went in there and single handedly butchered an entire cell of the Fang."

"Qrow," Tai sounded tired at this point, like really _tired_, "I don't want my girls involved in this stuff."

"I know, I know, I don't want them involved in it either. That's why I'm doing my damnedest to keep them as far away from it as possible. I just figured you should know the truth."

"Alright, alright, I understand. I don't like it, but I understand," Tai said, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, "Just please don't tell me Yang's got a boyfriend, because I don't think I could handle any more surprises right now."

"Well…," Qrow had the decency to look abashed.

"Whatever, I'm just gonna go make dinner and you're gonna set the table for everyone," Tai didn't even give his brother-in-law time to say no before walking into the little house.

Qrow's grin returned just a bit, "Yes dear."

* * *

**Alright, so the second part to this story is all planned out. I've got story goals to reach, secondary plots to continue, and baiting my readers with lemons for shits and giggles. Enjoy my lovelies, because I most certainly will.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

After five whole days of being home, Yang could say with a fair amount of certainty that she was starting to grow bored and not just because there was really nothing to do on Patch besides hunt the weaker packs of Grimm. Her dad was being the biggest overprotective papa bear in the history of fathers the world around, which she could understand even if it was starting to get on her nerves, and if she had to watch Ruby stripdown and reassemble her weapon one more time then she was gonna scream! She would gladly admit that her time at Beacon, with her team, had helped her branch out as a person and staying away from that level of daily excitement was like Ruby suddenly cutting off her sugar addiction overnight. Most importantly, above all the other things that was slowly dragging her into the ever endless abyss of boredom, Yang spent the last five days waking up _alone_! She nearly freaked out her first morning just because she was so used to Naruto being there with her.

The worst of it was just how frustrated she was getting, which meant her temper was starting to flare up, and that meant her poor old punching bag was getting the shit knocked out of it. Even without her semblance, Yang was still making her 100 lbs bag swing back and forth and already had to duct tape it back together once since she got back to Patch. Each blow could have snapped a normal man's rips, without aura of course, but unfortunately it was her bag that had to suffer instead. It's what happens when you combine her dad's strength with, from what she's heard from her uncle Qrow, her mom's temper.

"At this rate we're going to have to buy you a new one," Tai spoke up from where he sat on the back patio, watching his daughter pound away at the bag while sipping on a nice cold glass of ice tea, "I don't think I've seen you this worked up since when you first crashed your bike."

Instead of responding right away, Yang delivered one more combo of rapid punches before reeling her fist back and sending it forward like a bolt of lightning. Not really to anyone's surprise, Yang's punch made another hole in her already beat up bag, but what she didn't expect was for the chain holding it up to break and send it halfway across the backyard before skidding to a stop. Yang just stood there with her fist still stretched out, her eyes a bit wider than normal, and breathing a bit harder.

Letting out a long and deep sigh, Yang made her way over to the porch while unwrapping the bandages around her hands, "I guess I'm just not used to being cooped up here at Patch anymore. Not that I don't like being home, but..."

"But at Beacon there's always something to do, between training, fighting Grimm, or hanging out with your team. I remember, I went through the same thing you did my first time back home," Tai said as he reached over into the water cooler and pulled out a bottle of water for Yang, tossing it to his eldest daughter.

"Yeah," Yang said, twisting the cap off the bottle before downing it in almost a single gulp, "Something like that."

"Could it be you miss your boyfriend?" That question more than caught Yang off guard, not to mention her first thought was that Ruby ratted her out!

"What did Ruby tell you?! It's all lies!" Yang shouted, only to then notice the smug grin Tai had in the way he crossed his arms.

"Well at this point I don't think Ruby had to tell me anything," Tai said smugly, only to adopt an all too serious father face a split second later, "But I just want to let you know to be careful. Trust me, I know better than anyone else how things can develop on the team. You spend all your time fighting Grimm together, growing closer, and the next thing you know you're in some rather complicated situations."

"No no no no! I do not want to hear how you and mom hooked up!" Yang shouted as she covered her ears and turned away, missing the way Tai's expression softened, "I'm gonna go fix my bag, or go get another one from the shed."

Sadly for her, Tai wasn't quite done yet, "Just please promise me you're being careful. I don't care if you get into a relationship, be it with a boy or a girl, I just don't want to see you hurt."

"None of them are like mom, I'm not like mom. We won't abandon each other," Yang said without turning around, although the way her fist clenched already said enough, "And he does make me happy. It's like I found the missing piece to my puzzle, as stupid as that sounds, another half to make me whole."

With that said, Yang took off towards the shed as Qrow walked out onto the back patio to join his brother-in-law. Surprisingly, instead of his usual bottle of alcohol, Qrow was also sipping on a glass of ice tea but with the lemon shoved inside of it. He was also wearing a tank top with a pair of baggy pants instead of his usual Huntsman outfit, which wasn't necessarily bad but just a bit out of character.

"Thanks for not interrupting that," Tai spoke up as Qrow sat down on the chair next to him, propping his feet up on a small box.

"Yeah, well who am I to interrupt a father daughter conversation? So how is the little firecracker, she's been on edge the last few days?" Qrow asked, watching his niece open up the door to the shed and walked inside.

"I worry about her, but after what happened a few weeks ago can you really blame me?" Tai countered.

"Not really, but if she's anything like her mom then she's not just gonna spill her guts about it. She's either going to vent to someone her age that she trusts, or she's going to keep it bottled up until it eventually explodes in her face. Either way, it'll come out sooner or later," Qrow said, still wondering if he was making the right choice about keeping Naruto a secret from Tai; not for the first time he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"If I remember correctly," Tai began, his eyes losing focus as he traveled down memory lane, "Summer was the only one out of the three of us that could get Raven to open up, without having to force her."

Qrow let out a bark of the laugh, "That's right, but you two weren't there after the first night she got Raven to open up. I remember Raven just sat there on her bed with this far-off look in her face, like she couldn't understand what just happened. That was one of the funniest things I've ever seen."

"What about that time you thought it would be funny to blame Raven from messing with Summer's weapon? Those two went at it for hours before finally putting it together that it was all your fault," Tai laughed.

"They made my life a living hell for the next three weeks. Summer wouldn't even talk to me."

The two men just sat there after that, basking in their trip down memory lane and all the good times they had, even if they were often offset by the bad times. Despite all the mistakes, all the shouting matches, and everything in between, those are some of the best years of their lives.

"Look at us, we look like two old men talking about things back in our day," Qrow smirked, finishing off the last of his tea.

"Speak for yourself, I'm still in the springtime of my youth," Tai said as he flexed his still somewhat muscular arms, muscles he developed over a lifetime of hunting Grimm and later dealing with two daughters.

"Sure, whatever you say."

It was at this time that Yang made her way back out of the shed, carrying a new punching bag over her shoulder like it didn't weigh a hundred pounds. She at least waved to Qrow, a big cheesy smile on her face, before hanging up the bag and starting to wrap her hands back up for another round.

"Yeah, our little firecracker is going to be just fine."

* * *

Blake hated the stereotypes that most people associated with Faunus, mostly depending on what animal traits they happened to be born with. Could a dog Faunus really lick his own balls, does a bird Faunus lay eggs, does a rabbit Faunus do nothing but have sex all day? It was all very demeaning, insulting in almost every sense of the word, and that's what made this whole situation just that much more embarrassing. Because instead of sitting on the family couch like a normal person, she was curled up on the couch like a cat with a now empty glass of milk sitting on the coffee table. It also just so happened that her mom found it cute enough to snap a few pictures when she wasn't looking, even if the loud squeal a few moments later gave the older Belladonna away.

"You look so cute!" Kali shouted as she plopped down on the couch next to her daughter, "This one's definitely going in the family album."

"Mom!" Blake all but whined, her ears going flat against her head as she gave Kali an almost pleading look.

"Now now dear, as your mother it's my right to take embarrassing pictures of you and save them for your future boyfriend and/or girlfriend. Speaking of which, when are you gonna get one of those?" If there was one thing Kali loved doing, it was trying to play matchmaker for her only daughter!

Blake glanced away, looking a bit sad, "Not anytime soon."

"Blake?" there was a touch of concern in Kali's tone; she'd always been able to tell what her daughter was feeling at just a glance, just like her own mother could do with her.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," Blake tried to brush off her mother's concern, but she really should have known better.

Kali just scooted closer to her daughter, lifting up the younger woman's head to rest on her lap, and began running her fingers through her hair. That was another thing Kali was jealous of her daughter about, having long hair didn't seem to drive her crazy.

"If it makes you feel better, I won't tell your father," Kali said, trying to inject some humor into the situation and the small snort she got from Blake meant that it worked, if just a little bit.

"I just... I just don't want you guys to think any less of me," Blake mumbled.

"We already told you, it doesn't matter to us who you like, boy or girl," Kali tried to soothe her, but it didn't seem to be working as well as it was before if the way Blake started to fidget was anything to go by.

"What if it's both?" Blake sounded so vulnerable at that moment, it nearly broke her mother's heart.

"Well it's not that strange for someone to like both genders, but you already knew that."

"That's not what I meant," Blake set up so she was looking Kali right in the eyes, "What if I like a boy and a girl, but they're already in a relationship with each other?"

Kali's eyes widened just a bit, a bit of pink dusting her cheeks and what her daughter just said. She'd only heard about this kind of situation in those really smutty romance novels that she knew her daughter liked to read, not that she'd ever tell her that she swiped a few of them while she was gone. Then she remembered that picture she found on Blake's scroll, of those two blondes that were together on her team.

"Your two teammates?" Blake looked away at that accusation, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing now too.

"They like to tease me a lot, about joining in with them, but I can't tell if they're being serious or just messing with me," the young cat Faunus felt like she wanted to cry out in frustration, "And it's so much worse because I actually think I have feelings for both of them. I just don't know what to do."

"Well, I can't say I've ever been in a situation like yours before, but I do think I have some advice for you," Kali said with an uneasy smile, hoping that she wasn't about to ruin her daughter's romantic life.

Blake's head snapped around, her eyes wide with hope, "You do?"

"Just do the same thing I did to get your father's attention," Blake was already regretting this, "Back in the day, he used to tease me all the time to. Until one day I called him on his bluff by actually agreeing with him. I still remember how shocked he looked, I'd never thought I'd see the big bad Ghira stammer like a schoolboy, but in the end that was the beginning of our relationship together."

"That sounds like you pulled it from one of those romance novels," Blake said with a deadpan look; you could almost see the tick marks forming around her face and the way her eyebrow twitched was just too cute.

"Maybe, but that's really how it happened. That week we had our first date, a few months later we got _really _busy, and then the next year we were married. Not long after that you came into the world."

Blake decided to ignore the fact that her mom just said that she and her dad got _busy_, not wanting to even mentally picture that, "That's a big leap of faith."

"Sometimes it's worth it. Sometimes you just have to make that jump and hope you fly instead of fall. But who am I kidding, you're my daughter after all. Us belladonna girls get anything we want!" Kali shouted, a big cheesy grin on her face as she pumped her fist into the air.

"Take a leap of faith, huh?" How hard could it be?

"Hey, you two, how's your day going?" Ghira asked as he walked into the room, his massive body just barely managing to fit through the normal sized door.

"Oh, you know, just having some girl talk. Nothing you'd be interested in," Kali waved off, sending her daughter a sly smirk and a wink; Blake's ear twitched slightly in embarrassment but otherwise she managed to keep a straight face.

"You're probably right," Ghira nodded in agreement, he never could keep up with the latest gossip like his wife could and, more often than not, he fell asleep while she was talking about said gossip.

"Now, who's hungry?" both father and daughter suddenly had stars in their eyes.

* * *

Naruto grew up exploring places that, by all rights, he had no business exploring in the first damn place. He's wandered into the woods when his mom wasn't looking, snuck away from the tribe to go fishing when they set up camp about half a mile from a lake, and don't even get him started on his first trip into a village that wasn't slated to be raided and later torn to the ground by a pack of ravenous Grimm. Raven liked to call him a slippery little shit growing up, not to his face of course but he still overheard the other tribe members talking about it growing up, but it would be safe to say that his habits of wandering off hadn't really changed all that much. He's told it's supposedly a trait he gets from his mom.

Not, like all those other times, Naruto was casually wandering through the forest surrounding the tribe's latest camp with his original sword lazily strapped to his side while in little more than a tanktop and a pair of jeans; truth be told he wasn't even wearing shoes at the moment. What started as a desire to get away for a bit, with the newer tribe members constantly trying to walk around swinging their dicks about, had instead transformed into just exploring the area. He never did quite know what new secret hiding spots he could stumble upon and it gave him something to do until his irritation settled.

"The fuck?" Naruto asked himself, feeling the soft dirt under his feet suddenly turn hard and far too smooth to be a naturally occurring rock buried in the ground.

Crouching down and brushing away some loose dirt and twigs, Naruto could only raise an eyebrow at the sight of a yellow brick right where he's just stepped; with many more surrounding it. Now that he knew what to look for, Naruto could make out the yellow brick road twisting its way through the forest. It was overgrown, half of it covered in dirt and even a tree uprooting some of it, but it was a clear pathway leading to somewhere important. Maybe an old village that got destroyed during the great war, gods know there were plenty of those that got trampled by the Grimm.

"Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained," Naruto set off down the brick road, content to walk a few miles down the path to see if it led anywhere close by and, if not, he'd just turn around and go right back to the tribe.

"_**Come to me,**_" crimson eyes widened dramatically at the familiar voice that echoed on the wind, the same voice he used to have dreams about before setting off into the world, "_**You're almost there. Come to me.**_"

Naruto's leisurely pace shifted instantly into a dead sprint, determination to get some answers fresh on his mind, and it's because of this he didn't notice the dangerous glowing red eyes staring at him from the shadows of the forest. On and on Naruto ran, going so far as to pump some aura into his legs to gain just a bit more speed, and after fifteen minutes he was rewarded for his efforts. Now about five miles away from where he first stumbled upon the path, Naruto's sprint slowed to a halt when he spotted a rather well maintained cabin in the woods.

The cabin wasn't like those told in the old stories, falling apart with evil long nosed witches living inside and just waiting to gobble up wayward children. In fact, it looked to be recently made and rather well maintained, given the white fence built around it didn't even have so much as a chip of paint missing. Even the rose garden lining the front of the cabin looked almost perfectly maintained, which should have been a problem since the area was too rocky and tough for proper roses to grow.

"Oh, it seems I've a visitor," spoke a voice from behind Naruto, far too close for his liking, and it took all the blonde's considerable will not to lash out on pure survival instinct; he instead chose to turn around and back up at the same time.

Standing there was a woman shrouded in a black traveling cloak, a basket full of herbs in hand. She was beautiful, at least in Naruto's eyes, with a bit lighter blonde hair tied back into a ponytail and only a few strands loose to frame the left side of her face. Her eyes were like sparkling sapphires, if also a bit lighter in color, and they held a gentleness to them Naruto was unfamiliar with. Although, perhaps it's these attributes that confused Naruto the most. By all accounts she was a beautiful woman living in the woods, as strange as that sounds in and of itself, so why the hell did he feel so on edge around her?

"Sorry to intrude, ma'am. I was following that strange brick road and it dumped me out in front of your cabin," Naruto said as politely as possible, struggling to keep his hand away from the hilt of his sword and appear as relaxed as possible.

"Oh," the way she tilted her head let off an air of innocence, "I'm surprised that old thing still stretched back to any of the nearby villages. You must've been paying attention to notice it, with how buried the sections are the further out they go. Oh, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Salem, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Naruto eyed the outstretched hand like it was a snake, only to crush down his raging instincts and reach out to shake it, "Naruto Uzumaki, the pleasure's mine!" the added eye-smile was to hide the clearly seen wariness.

"Well, Naruto, you've no doubt traveled a long way just to stumble upon my lonesome home. The least I can do is offer you something to drink. Would you like to come inside and rest?" Salem asked, stepping around Naruto to push open the small white painted gate that led to a path up to her front door.

"That sounds..._lovely_," Naruto nodded in thanks, only to glance around when he noticed all the normal forest sounds were noticeably absent, "Although, if you don't mind me asking, how are you able to live out here with the Grimm roaming about?"

Salem paused half way up the path and turned to look back at him, a small smirk playing across her lips that sent a shiver up Naruto's spine, "Oh, the Grimm don't bother me at all. I've never had a problem with them."

* * *

**I know this chapter is a bit shorter than normal, that part was unfortunately planned, but the unfortunate part was how long it actually took me to sit down and write it. The plan is there, I've a big fucking whiteboard next to my desk with all my plans written out, but it's the motivation I find myself lacking. It sucks, but please bear with me.**


	23. AN

**This is just a little announcement that my reaction fanfiction for this story is now up.**


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Beacon Academy, named for a shining light in a never ending sea of darkness, was quite a sight to behold for those that hadn't already come to call it home. Those first arriving were often awed by its massive and complicated architecture, but for some it had simply become their home away from home. At least that's what Naruto thought when he walked out of the transport ship carrying himself and his fellow hunters in training, now wearing a rather new dark grey jacket and sporting some fingerless gloves with metal plated over the knuckles; he obviously swiped them from one of the new members of the tribe. Finally, to top off his more recent wardrobe change, Raven managed to convince him to get a bit of a haircut before he left for Beacon. It wasn't anything major, just a simple undercut to liven up his look.

Naruto resisted the urge to growl when one of the new first years shoved past him on their way to the auditorium, his hand reflexively going for one of the knives he almost always kept on his body. He could barely stand some of the people in his own year, let alone having to put up with even more new students that couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag. His year was actually a bit of an oddity when it came to raw talent, or at least the people he hung around the most. Speaking of which, standing next to one of the large stone pillars was a familiar white themed snowflake with a nasty temper, although at least Ruby's been making progress in thawing the ice queen's heart.

"Hey there, princess, you miss me?!" Naruto half yelled, making his way over to Weiss with his hands stuffed in his pockets and an almost insufferable grin on his face; Weiss refused to even entertain the idea of being happy to see him.

"Like a nasty sunburn," Weiss scoffed, crossing her arms and turning her nose up at him, like a proper princess would, only to let out a shriek when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and her feet suddenly leave the ground.

"Awww, you did miss me! The ice queen does have a heart after all!" Naruto laughed, ignoring Weiss' cries of outrage and the way her entire face did a great job impression of Ruby's cloak, although a swift elbow to the face was enough to persuade him to let the little heiress go.

"You brute!" Weiss shouted, her face still glowing red as she jabbed Naruto's chest with her rather sharp finger, "I didn't say you could touch me!"

"Weiss. Weiss! Weiss! Weiss! Weiss!" The white themed girl's rant was suddenly cut off by a red blur blindsiding both her and Naruto, who just grinned even more and watched the two partners tussle around on the ground; Ruby laughing like a kid on liquid sugar and Weiss trying to pry the younger girl off her.

"Ruby, get off me this instant!" Weiss tried in vain to get free of her team leader, but sadly lacked the proper arms strength to do anything but be crushed by the shorter girl's back breaking hug, "Don't touch me you dolt!"

While Naruto was busy laughing at the two girls, he failed to notice the sudden shadow overtake his form and paid for it dearly. Yang had come flying through the air in much the same way as Ruby, only Yang slammed into him like a train going full speed while Ruby would have felt like being hit with a plushy, and thus Naruto found himself on his back with Yang straddling him. The big ol grin on her face was a sight to behold, but the kiss that came after was even better.

"Worth the pain," Naruto managed to ground out as he slowly sat up, but unfortunately that was only as far as Yang would let him go; she wrapped her arms around his neck and dove back in for a much longer kiss this time.

Weiss and Ruby stopped their fighting at the same time, both noticing Naruto's and Yang's very public make out session and now sporting equally massive blushes. Although, if one were to look closely, they would notice a flash of jealousy in Ruby's eyes and the way her lips turned down in her cheeks puffed out into a pout. She felt like Yang was doing this on purpose now, especially since the two of them never actually got a chance to sit down and talk about what happened in that hospital room. To put it simply, Yang was laying claim to what was hers and letting everyone know it as publicly as possible. Naruto himself didn't seem too keen on resisting her either, not that Ruby really blamed him since they were technically boyfriend and girlfriend, but the little blackette couldn't help but imagine what it would be like if she was in her sister's place. Weiss, on the other hand, was scandalized!

"Will you please stop, have some common decency!" Weiss's words may have been spoken from an entire childhood of learning what was proper and what wasn't, but one small part in the back of her head almost liked what she was watching.

Yang just broke the kiss with a loud smooch, sitting up so she was still straddling Naruto's lap and sending the white haired girl and almost predatory look, "Don't be mad at me because you don't have a boyfriend to make out with, or maybe a girlfriend would be more your speed?"

"How...how dare you, you uncultured brute!" Weiss cried again and outrage, somehow managing to slip free from Ruby's grasp and point dramatically at the two blondes, who had finally gotten back up off the ground.

"What's all the yelling about?" the monotone voice of Blake Belladonna greeted everyone's ears as the Faunus girl herself walked up to them, her eyes more focused on the book in her hand than what was actually going on.

"Weiss is on her period!" Yang jumped in before Weiss even stood a chance, earning another cry of outrage, but Blake didn't even so much as glanced up from her book.

"Isn't she always?" It may have been dry humor, dryer than the deserts of Vacuo, but Blake had actually just told a joke and it left everybody momentarily stunned.

"Did you just tell a joke?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow, not sure if maybe Yang hit him too hard and he was just hearing things or if maybe the world was finally coming to an end.

"I tell jokes," Blake tried to defend herself, closing up her book, only to glance away the moment she laid eyes on Naruto and his somewhat new style; she hadn't been expecting that.

Before long the other members of their two teams showed up, with Pyrrha looking a lot more like her old self from before the kidnapping and Jaune also undergoing a slight makeover. Jaune's one scraggly blonde hair, which made him look more like a grown up kid instead of a huntsman in training, had been cut much shorter and spiked up a little bit in the front. He also swapped out his old hoodie for an actual jacket made of stronger material and looked to have polished his armor as well; at least when compared to how he normally kept it.

Likewise, while Pyrrha didn't do anything as drastic as cut her hair, she did end up changing her outfit. Instead of what she normally wore, which left a lot of skin exposed and would put her in danger if her aura was ever shattered, there were noticeably more armored pieces across her entire body. While her leg armor remained the same, she'd replaced her corset with an actual lightweight breastplate, had bracers on both her arms and two pauldrons on both her shoulders. It should also be noted that she was wearing a full body suit underneath all her armor and now wore a small red cape hanging over her left shoulder.

Naruto didn't think it was possible for her to look more like a warrior goddess, but apparently he stood corrected. Yet the thing that really drew his attention was the look in Pyrrha's eyes, the lack of hesitation that was there before and how her smile didn't seem forced. It seems whatever she went through back home, over these last two weeks, managed to get her out of her funk.

Finally, the last two to show up, despite the fact that they never left, were Nora and Ren. Out of everyone they still look the same and hadn't really changed all that much personality wise.

"Well, as much fun as it's been hanging out with you guys, we should all get unpacked," Naruto said, only to nearly topple over when Yang suddenly jumped onto his back and all but forced him to give her a piggyback ride.

"Naruto's right, vacations over and it's time to get back to work," Ren agreed with a nod, the normally quiet boy speaking up for the first time since he and Nora arrived.

"But I don't want to!" Ruby cried, only to be dragged away seconds later by Weiss, ignoring the girls pleas for help.

"Oh yeah, it's good to be back."

Once back in their dorm rooms, with all their belongings packed away and weapons stored in their personal lockers, Naruto's team collectively decided they'd enjoy the last day of their vacation by lazing around the room and doing absolutely no school work or training of any kind. Even when Naruto wanted to go out and have a little sparring match with Pyrrha, to see if that new armor of hers would slow her down or change the way she fought, Yang just forced him back onto his bed and laid her head down on his lap. Jaune thought it was a little funny, his leader was definitely wrapped around the berserker's finger. That is until Naruto's scroll seemed to go off and the message that came across it made him adopt a rather annoyed face.

"Well, as much as I'd like to spend the rest of the day lazing around, it looks like I've got to make a quick trip back to Vale," Naruto didn't sound happy at all, in fact he seemed to have gone from mildly annoyed to nearly pissed off.

"Aww, do you have to?" Yang whined halfheartedly, more upset about losing his lap as her pillow than anything else, before adopting a rather sultry look, "You sure I can't _convince_ you to stay?"

Naruto just leaned down and stole a quick kiss, "Sorry, but I'll be back before you even know I'm gone."

The blonde was out the door a second later, making sure to grab his coat along the way and his white mask. He also made sure to grab his bow and arrows, just in case, and glanced down at the message sent to him from a very familiar femme fatale. It was an address followed by a line of text underneath it.

"_Come if convenient. If not convenient, come all the same._"

"These people are lucky they're dealing with me and not mom, because shit like this is how heads get cut off and bodies wash up on the beach," Naruto said to himself as he boarded a transport and requested passage to Vale.

* * *

With the loss of the White Fang as the muscle backing her operation, or rather the muscle making sure Roman stayed in line, Cinder had to call upon the much less effective street thugs rented out by Hei Xiong. They complained a lot, wore tacky suits, and often didn't know which end of the gun to point at someone, but at least the one thing they did know how to do was follow simple orders. It's such a shame that her subordinates, namely Roman, Emerald, and Mercury, thought a better use of their time was bickering like a bunch of children.

"Well, excuse me for being busy stealing every ounce of dust in the kingdom. It's not like it's easy avoiding every police officer and Hunter that the big man in charge decided to send after me," Roman droned on, motioning towards the massive shipping containers and crates full of every kind of dust imaginable; both raw and weaponized.

"Congratulations," Mercury half mocked, slowly clapping his hands with a deadpan look on his face, "You're an inspiration for every two bit crook out there that can hold up a store with a gun."

"Listen here, you little punk, I was doing just fine running the streets until you guys showed up. Now I'm having to deal with more heat than I ever have and you guys aren't helping by offing bookstore owners in broad daylight," Roman growled, pointing the business end of his cane at the silver haired assassin while Neo watched everything going on from under one of her illusions; she was fully prepared to gut any one of them if they even thought about hurting her boss.

"Oh don't be such a big baby, we've compensated you plenty and it's not like you still aren't making money," Emerald pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Money won't help me if I'm locked up in prison or _dead_!"

"You're right, money won't help you if you're dead," Cinder spoke up as she stepped out of the shadows, her eyes glowing with power not originally her own and the sound of her glass heels clicking against the concrete was far more intimidating than it had any right to be.

"Cinder," there is a touch of concern in Roman's voice now, his back straightened up as he fiddled with the collar of his coat, "I wasn't aware that you were back in town already, have a nice trip?"

Roman was more than aware of the pecking order when it came to this operation and that he was very far below Cinder's level of authority. He was a street thug, a gangster, and more importantly a thief. He didn't normally have to put up with strange women that could throw fireballs out of their hands and had glowing eyes, not to mention her desire to walk out of completely random shadows and scare the crap out of him. Looking back on it, he should just hold this odd woman to take her deal and dive off the nearest peer. Now he seemingly had no way out.

"Don't try and change the subject. As I recall it was your job to take care of the bookstore owner and instead my companions here had to do it for you," said companions were giving Roman matching mocking smiles, until Cinder turned her gaze upon them, "And you two were meant to keep a low profile so as to not jeopardize the next step of our plans. It seems I was foolish to believe the three of you could follow simple orders while I was away."

"Come on boss, the job got done and there were no witnesses. Scout's honor," Mercury tried to play it off, but he'd be lying if he said the way Cinder narrowed her eyes at him wasn't the least bit intimidating.

Cinder pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to drive off the oncoming headache, before glancing around at the three of her subordinates, "Where's Naruto?"

"Oh, you mean the mercenary who both put me in jail and then broke me out?" Roman sassed, spinning around a simple wooden chair before plopping down on it backwards, "Haven't seen him."

"What about you two, has he been at Beacon?"

"No ma'am," Emerald answered honestly, having infiltrated the Academy a handful of times over the last two weeks to keep an eye on the mercenary.

This made Cinder wonder if the blonde had just walked away from the job, given that she hadn't seen him since the White Fang incident and it was a good possibility he thought the risk didn't outweigh the reward. If that was the case then they'd have to track them down and put a bullet in his head; they couldn't have someone running around that knew as much about their operation as he did.

"You know, for a bunch of people going around committing crimes left, right, and center, you're not very good at keeping track of your surroundings," a voice called from above them all, more specifically up on the metal trusses of the warehouse, "I could have been a hunter spying on you all from the beginning, or an assassin sent here to eliminate the competition."

There Naruto was, crouching casually on one of the trusses with his bow in one hand while the other held an arrow ready to be fired at a moment's notice. Now that everyone knew he was there, which he had been long before the three stooges started arguing, Naruto dropped down out of his hiding spot and landed on top of one of the shipping containers. From there he jumped one more time and came to a stop next to Roman, his arrow put back in its quiver but his bow still at the ready.

"And for the record, I had some other business to attend to outside of Vale and the two week vacation all the students got gave me the perfect window to do so," Naruto explained while pulling off his mask and lowering his hood.

"You should've informed us you were leaving to begin with," Emerald hissed, quite literally, as she jabbed an accusing finger in Naruto's direction.

"Like I said before, we may be hired by the same people, our objectives may help each other, but I don't answer to any of you. My only job is to steal something from Beacon Academy and maybe do a few other things. Now, why the hell did you call me out here?" Naruto finished by turning to look at Cinder.

"She called you out here at my request," a different voice spoke from the shadows, one that Naruto had only heard once or twice but knew it as belonging to the man who hired him to begin with, "And I do so apologize for any inconvenience it may have caused you."

Out of the shadows walked a tall middle-aged man with a slim build and slightly tanned skin. His hair was styled short and black with bits of gray creeping in along the sides and a thick mustache on his upper lip. Light green eyes shined with intelligence and cunning that would put most schemers to shame. His style of dress was also on the fancy side of things, being that he wore a yellow dress shirt with a blue overcoat that had yellow lines. Around his neck was also a black necktie that disappeared into a dark purple vest; a color that was shared by the fingerless gloves he wore.

"So, you're the man behind the money?" Naruto inquired, tilting his head ever so slightly while narrowing his crimson eyes, "Not satisfied with the progress I've made?"

The man shook his head, allowing a mirthful chuckle to escape his lips, "Not in the slightest. The terms of our deal gave you an unlimited amount of time to complete your task, which I have no complaints about. I am simply here to negotiate an extension to our pre-existing contract."

"Do I really have to be here for this?" Roman spoke up, feeling like he could be doing a thousand other things than just sitting there.

"You can leave," Cinder spoke up before looking at her own subordinates, "The two of you as well. Go get ready for the next step of the plan."

"Yes ma'am/You got it boss," came both replies at the same time.

Once the three stooges went on about their own business, the mustached man took it upon himself to take Roman's former seat and crossed one leg over the other.

"Before we go any further, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Arthur Watts, formally a scientist of Atlas until I decided to... go my own way," Arthur introduced himself, placing a hand on his chest and giving a short nod of his head.

"So what's this extension you wanted to talk to me about?" Naruto wanted to get right down to business, he only had so much time before he had to get back to the academy.

Arthur's mustache rose just a bit to indicate he was smiling, "Right down to business, just as I thought you'd be. Very well then. Along with stealing the relic hidden somewhere in Beacon Academy, I'd also like you to assassinate a certain individual when the time comes. You will, of course, be compensated for this if you decide to undergo the task."

Naruto just quirked an eyebrow, trying to think of who these people could possibly want assassinated from Beacon, but one name did come to mind almost immediately. He would be the highest target, the one whose death would cause the most damage, and probably the hardest one to get to.

"Headmaster Ozpin," you could practically see Arthur's smug smile.

"There, you see Cinder, I told you he wasn't as incompetent as most mercenaries that we hire. Yes, if you agree to this assassination then your target will be Ozpin. He's an obstacle that must be removed in order for future plans to be executed without much resistance."

"No!" Cinder suddenly shouted, her hands engulfed in fire as pure power seemed to radiate from her eyes, "Ozpin is mine and mine alone! That was the plan!"

"This new decision comes from the mistress," almost as if by magic, Arthur's words shut Cinder right up but did little to calm the rage that was now present in her eyes.

"How long do I have to get it done?" Naruto asked.

"By the end of the Vytal Festival Tournament. Near the end you will be presented with an opportunity, it's up to you to get close enough during that opportunity to kill him," Arthur explained as he stretched out his hand, "Do we have an agreement?"

Naruto thought about it for a moment, weighing the pros and cons.

"We do."

* * *

The feeling of hot water running through her blonde locks nearly made Yang purr in delight, the aftermath of a massive food fight being washed down the shower drain in a mixture of colors that was fun to look at. She'd been the last one to take a shower out of the entirety of her team, mostly so she could take as long as she wanted without anyone banging on the door for her to hurry up.

This was especially true considering how long it took her to wash her hair out, given how thick it was and the fact that she got a whole apple pie right to the back of the head. There was no quicker way to piss her off than to mess with her hair, which Nora experienced firsthand by being sent flying through one of the cafeteria windows. Now though, with her beautiful hair squeaky clean once more and free of breadcrumbs, Yang no longer felt the need to strangle somebody with her bare hands.

"I wonder if Naruto would like it if I put my hair up the way I had it on our date?" Yang asked herself as she gathered up some of her hair and held her back behind her head, poking her head out of the shower to try and catch a glimpse in the mirror but finding it completely fogged over from the steam.

With a disgruntled sigh, Yang let her hair fall free around her shoulders and stepped back into the near scalding hot water, closing her eyes and just letting it wash over her naked body. Memories began to resurface, memories about the time she snuck into the shower when Naruto was taking one and everything that happened afterwards.

The way he touched her then, the way he touched her in that hospital bed; Yang couldn't decide if the blush on her face was from the heat of the shower or the heat of her memories. Even as the rushing hot water glided down her body like small rivers, tucking in and around her breasts, jumping over her toned abs, and sliding between her legs. All she could imagine was Naruto's hands, his lips against her neck, his tongue driving her crazy as all she saw was stars.

Slender fingers dipped between Yang's legs and she let out a gasp of relief, both from the sudden sensation and the way the shower head had a sudden surge of warm water. Thinking about Naruto watching her with lidded red eyes, the fruity smell of the body wash she slathered across her breasts made her feel extra sensitive, like an intoxicating alcohol in the air. Another gasp escaped her lips, now parted and wet while her eyes grew heavy, imagining Naruto breathing her in as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. Soon she began to feel so dizzy that she had to grab onto the shower railing, lest she fall over and end up making a fool of herself.

"Naruto," his name escaped Yang's lips, somewhere between a sultry moan and a begging desire, two fingers spreading apart her lower lips as a third went to work.

"You called?" The sudden sound of Naruto behind her nearly sent Yang sprawling onto the shower floor, that is had Naruto not managed to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her flush up against him.

"When did y-Mmmph!?" Yang could only get out so much, her mind already fried from the steam and the desire and now the kiss; by all the gods, the kiss!

They stood beneath the shower head, steaming water running over them, and already Yang could feel him growing harder against her thighs. She feels unable to move, even when his tongue slips into her mouth and his free hand gripped her leg, bringing it up until it could almost wrap around his waist. Almost two weeks without this, without the touching, without the kissing, and most importantly without the near mind numbing desire.

After only a few more moments, Naruto had a hard–on he's sure would never disappear. The kiss breaks when the water begins to cool, some of their senses come back to them, but they're not having any of it this time. Yang blindly reaches out, her mind to focus on the throbbing appendage between her thighs that only seemed to make her own desire burn hotter, and desperately turned the heat up even more. It worked like a charm.

"I love you," it came out as a hot steamy breath, emotion and passion all intertwined into a burning cocktail of lust and desire, and the best part was that they both said at the same time.

The feeling of the shower faded away, the scolding heat transformed into a soothing warmth, their hearts pounding in their chests to the same rhythm. And then it all came rushing back, nearly giving them both whiplash.

Yang's arms flew around Naruto's neck as their lips came crashing back together with a bang, tongues twirling and dancing, but above it all she managed to get out two words. Two simple words, but with enough emotion behind it to finally push them both over the edge.

"Take me."

Pain came first, even through all the lust and desire that filled her body and set her nerves on fire. The feeling of being stretched and pulled, invaded by something that hadn't been there before, it nearly made her scream. Then she did scream, screamed loud into Naruto's mouth as her arms constricted around him with enough force that it would've broken a weaker man's neck.

She didn't know how long the pain lasted, but the smell of copper in the warm air was unmistakable in the way Naruto trembled slightly told her the rest of the story. Yang had finally done it, given Naruto the two most valuable things any girl could give. He had her heart, has had it for quite a while now, and now he had her purity.

"Y-Yang," she quivered from the way he gasped her name, pride overcame the pain for the briefest of moments, but even with a wince she managed to nod her head.

Yang nearly let out another cry when Naruto slowly began pulling out of her, the warm water washing away the blood as he retreated, and had a bite down on his neck when he pushed back in. The pain was momentary for Naruto, but Yang would forever remember the copper taste in her mouth and the way he throbbed inside her the very moment she bit him.

Back and forth, slow and steady, each moment driving the pain further and further away until Yang started to feel the heat again. She pushed her forehead up against his, eyes closed and mouth hung open as short panting gasps flowed between them. Naruto pushed them both up against one of the walls, Yang's nails dug into his back with enough force to leave marks, and the thrusting became faster.

"You look so beautiful," Naruto whispered to Yang before he even knew what he was saying, reason being washed away as her insides constricted around him, "So beautiful."

"Shu-Shut up!" the need in Yang's voice made Naruto not want to hold back anymore, to just give in, but he held himself in check against everything his lust was telling him to do.

In and out, in and out, their chiseled bodies grinding against one another, the thrusting growing more intense. As Naruto went in, Yang started coming down to greet him. This was so much better than the first time in the shower, so much better than in the hospital, she should have done this with him ages ago! That's when it happened, the Big Bang, her entire body going numb with ecstasy, Naruto thrusting his hips a few more times before every muscle in his body constricted.

When their senses came back to them it was because the water had gone cold again, even as their bodies still burned. Yang had never felt so weak in her entire life, like her limbs were made of lead even though her mind was almost hyper aware of everything going on around her.

"Naruto," Yang spoke with labored gasps of air, feeling herself shiver when his eyes darted up to meet hers.

"Yeah?" Naruto sounded as shaky as she did, but managed to somehow keep them both standing.

"I love you. I love you so much."

"I love you too."

For their first night back at Beacon Academy, it wasn't so bad.

* * *

**There, you greedy bastards wanted a chapter and so here it is! I hope your happy with yourselves because I love you all enough to crank this baby out, fueled by six different energy drinks and a metric-fuck-ton of Adderall!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 24**

As much as Naruto was loath to admit it, and he really was, but he was kinda glad to be attending the otherwise boring classes forced upon every student of Beacon. Sure some of the more basic classes wouldn't serve him all that well in his chosen profession, seeing as he didn't known that many mercenaries that needed to known the exact dates in which every major battle of the great was was fought, but on the flip side he _was_ learning about some types of Grimm he'd never encountered before. For instance, Naruto had never been to Solitas before and as such would have been unlikely to run into any Megoliath before he was up shit creek without a paddle. Now he was learning about their strengths, weaknesses, and the tactics past hunters have used to take them down; a surprising few managed to actually survive their deadly encounter with the massive beast and that said a lot. That just made Naruto want to go out and fight one himself!

Of course it was rather hard to pay attention in class with the feeling of Yang's hand snaking up and down his thigh, which was made worse by the way she'd been staring at him the entire class. Ever since the rather intimate moment in the shower, the two blondes have just been itching to get a hold of each other again. Yang tried first thing in the morning, since they still slept in the same bed and could get up to twenty of things under the covers, but I was cut short by everyone else waking up.

"Yang," Naruto bit out, clenching his teeth to keep some measure of control, "You're making it rather hard to concentrate."

Yang's grin was positively evil, in an all too sexy and seductive way, the kind of way that only a couple could have after spending their first night of passion together. Naruto nearly jumped up out of his seat when Yang's hand went from massaging his thigh to gently patting his crotch.

The feeling of Yang's breath against his ear sent goosebumps all up and down his arms, "Maybe after class we could sneak off to one of the other empty rooms. I'm sure no one would find us for at least an hour or two."

"Will you two please cut it out?!" Blake somehow managed to hiss, yell, and whisper all at the same time; she even managed to send them both a rather heated glare.

"I don't know what you talking about," Yang didn't even try to sound innocent, "We're just talking about our notes. Nothing suspicious going on over here."

If possible, Blake's glare became even sharper and Naruto felt like he was caught in between two nations about to go to war. Thankfully, before anything could happen, the bell rang and Naruto found himself being practically dragged out of the classroom. A fact that was noticed and then completely ignored by the majority of his team, aside from Blake who snuck away when nobody was looking.

A few twists and turns later, followed by Yang sticking her head into a classroom to make sure it really was empty, and Naruto found himself shoved into an old teacher's chair with Yang sitting on the desk.

"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd think you'd want something from me," now that he thought about it, Naruto was pretty sure he'd never been with a woman that was quite as physical as Yang.

"It's all your fault, you know. That fire you lit inside me last night hasn't gone out in the slightest and now you're gonna take responsibility," Yang all but purred, having never been more grateful for skirts in her entire life.

They'd have to be fast to make it in time for their next class; which meant they'd have to be extra rough just to get some friction going on. Naruto could do the second one, the way he shot up from his seat and all but pinned Yang to the next was proof of that, but the first part might be the one thing he couldn't do. Now that they finally had a good and proper taste of one another, neither blondes could even consider the possibility of taking it slow. If nothing else, they'd have to find a few other quiet classrooms throughout the week.

"Common, whiskers," delicate fingers worked quickly to unbuckle Naruto's pants, "Tick-tock goes the clock!"

Yang almost let out a yelp when her panties were almost ripped right off and the almost primal rumble escaping Naruto's lips sent shivers through her body, "I thought I told you to stop being so distracting."

"I don't know wha-oh shit fuck!" Yang barely had a moment to breathe before Naruto lined himself up with her folds and pushed in with all the grace of a bull; he had to wrap one arm around his neck and plant another one on the desk just to stop from falling back!

"What was that, I didn't quite catch that last part?" Naruto snarked, pulling out so slowly it was agonizing for the both of them before shoving himself all the way back in right when Yang opened her mouth to talk.

At this point the only thing different from the previous night was that they decided to keep their clothing on this time. Yang school uniform was always just a few beats from being too small, her poor shirt and jacket could hardly contain her tits. Despite only going in at half mast, Naruto could feel myself growing big and hard inside her with each long and drawn out thrust.

With a sudden growl and a shove, Naruto found himself tripping over his pants and falling back into the teacher's chair; he was more than a bit embarrassed about being tripped up by his own pants around his ankles. Yang didn't even give him time to protest, jumping off the desk the way she did before straddling him and shoving him all the way back up inside her. Her hair was a loose mess, hanging forward around her head like a curtain and covering everything but her eyes, which were screwed shut as each bounce sent a wave of pleasure through them both.

"Naruto," she started to tell him something, her voice low and filled with passion, but the words escaped her just as quickly.

He let her set the pace, finding her watery smile and glazed over eyes almost as appealing as the feeling of her bouncing up and down on top of them. It was at the five minute mark that Naruto decided they needed to speed things up. Yang had seen it plenty of times in those rather risqué videos she looked up when she had a certain itch to scratch, but none of that compared to actually being pinned face down against the desk and railed from behind.

It was now obvious to them both that they weren't going to make it in time for the next class, but hopefully Blake could take notes for them.

Or maybe not?

What Naruto and Yang didn't know, what they couldn't have known once the fuck session kicked off, was that Black was actually in the room with them already. Hidden behind a tall cabinet, pushed out just enough for the faunus girl to hide next to while peeking out to watch the show, Blake did everything in her power to keep her moans down. Her jacket was already long since forgotten, her vest unbuttoned just enough for her breasts to hang out in the cool air, and her fingers going to town between her legs. Sweat already caked Blake's shirt and made it almost transparent and don't even get her started on her now ruined panties; she'd have to go the rest of the day without them at this rate.

"Soon," Blake had to stifle another moan, biting down on her finger to do so, "I'll tell you both soon."

* * *

"Die. Die! DIE! DIE! DDDDIIIIIEEEE!" Raven screamed over and over again, each die followed up by Omen taking another chunk out of some poor Beowolf as it tried to crawl away from the seemingly enraged mother; it was quite the sight.

The elder Branwen's day had been going surprisingly well, despite her son having returned to the conniving snake pit known as Beacon Academy and that he made her promise _not_ to come spy on him for at least a few weeks; he wanted to get properly settled back in. Which was an absurd notion the likes of which Raven hadn't heard since the time Tai accused her of stalking Summer. Lies, slander, she was not hyper obsessive and borderline creepy! Well, at least not anymore since that whole thing with being Summer's shadow in all but reality was a bit on the nose and she knew that now.

_SNAP!_

Raven blinked a few times at her now broken dust blade, only to blink once again when the ashes of the now fading Grimm floated away to reveal she'd stabbed a rather thick rock just barely sticking up out of the ground. Was she really this on edge after Naruto being gone for just a day?

"Well well well, aren't we on edge today?"

Raven _moved_, jumping several yards away from where she just was and landing with what was left of Omen pointed right at the speaker, her hands shaking and her eyes dilated with raw _fear_. Out of the woods, garbed in a black dress to match her black heart, was the devil herself. Almost every hair on Raven's body stood up on end, her heart pounded in her chest like a jackhammer, and she was borderline hyperventilating at the very sight of the Grimm Queen. All around her the shadows pressed in, even the sun seemed to grow dimmer because of the pale skinned bitch.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing here?" Raven tried to put as much bravado in her voice as she possibly could, but both women knew it was little more than an act triggered by basic animal instinct to survive; puff up and make yourself look bigger than you really were.

"Now is that any way to greet someone? At least your son has better manners when I last saw him; such a handsome young man," Salem's smile widened just a bit more, bordering on the land between pleasant and predatory, while Raven's mama bear instincts kicked right in.

"If you so much as look at him the wrong way, I'll find a way to kill you despite your immortality!" Raven went to surge towards the witch, Omen poised to spear Salem's throat, but froze within half an inch of the Grimm queen.

Salem laughed, she _laughed_, right in Raven's face before reaching out and gripping the dust blade as if it were a mere twig, "Oh, the sight of a mother willing to do anything to protect her young. It's nice to know that such things haven't changed since the days of my own youth, but I don't think even then mothers were as obsessive as you seem to be."

The sound of Grimm prowling through the woods around them didn't even register to Raven, not when all their ferocity combined couldn't even come close to their mistress. Raven knew she was right and properly fucked now, in almost every way but the fun way, and this red eyed cunt held her life in her very hands.

"If you're gonna kill me then get it over with, but don't you dare lay even a _finger_ on my son!" Raven didn't know if she should be more scared or annoyed when Salem laughed at her..._again_!

"I'm afraid we're well past the point of me simply laying a finger on him. Why, I dare say I got rather handsy when he came to see me a few days ago. Of course not in this form, not yet at least, but back to the matter at hand. You and I have a few things we need to talk about, my dear flighty raven," as Salem spoke the blade she was caressing seemed to melt away like a fine liquid, leaving her to trace a finger along Raven's cheek with that same damn smile on her face.

"I'll never do anything you say," Raven growled in one last bit of defiance.

"And I would never expect you to," this time Salem's smile did turn damn near predatory, "Tell me, what do you know about your son's power. Do you know what he's truly capable of, what he might be able to achieve if he fully gained control of it?"

Raven tried to struggle just a bit more, if for no other reason than to open a portal and get the hell out of dodge, but whatever Salem did to her wouldn't allow her to do anything but blink and breathe. It also seemed Salem was more than content to just stand there and wait for her answer, glowing red eyes straight from the pits of hell itself stared into Raven's very soul in a manner that made her feel naked in all ways.

"His...His semblance is unstable and when he uses it the power makes him go berserk if he's not careful," Raven finally broke and Salem's chuckle made her shiver just a bit.

"Ha, that's the same answer he gave me and you should have seen his face when I told him he was wrong. Ah, yes, that face right there. He does seem to inherit quite a bit more subtle traits from you instead of Mr. Xiao Long," Salem said as she moved just to the side of Raven and released whatever control she had over the bandit queen; the momentum from before sent her flopping to the ground like a fish out of water.

"Damnit!" Raven was on her feet in an instant, reaching for her blade to make a portal so she could escape, only to look over and spy Salem standing there with the hilt in her hand.

"I don't believe you actually do know what your son's special power is capable of, nor do I believe you knew that it wasn't actually his semblance," Salem said while walking over to a rather strong and thick looking tree, only to then surround it with her magic and rip it up out of the ground, followed by letting it drop and sitting down on it as a makeshift chair.

"I was the one who activated his aura and his semblance. Trust me, I know what I saw," Raven said, knowing she should just transform into her avian form and escape but couldn't find it in herself to do so.

"Even in this day and age, you all know precious little about aura and semblances. Despite what some would have you think, a person's semblance is affected by more than just their personality and soul. The Schnee family is the best example of this, with each descendant using the same glyphs for the last thousand or so years and only wavering depending on their individual aura and skill. So tell me, if this power your son holds is his semblance, who did you cheat on your husband with?" Raven wanted to beat that smug look right off Salem's face with her own two hands, or at least choke the bitch to death.

"You did something to him, didn't you?" Raven's teeth clenched and her hands balled into shaking fists, eyes filled to the brim with unbridaled rage, "What the fuck did you do to my son?!"

Salem was standing in front of her in an instant, their faces mere inches apart, "I gave him what was always his to have."

And then Salem was gone with the only trace of her being there was the sound of Omen's hilt falling to the ground. Only one word could summarize what Raven was thinking, quick as she was to pick up her discarded hilt and rip open a portal to the tribe.

"Fuck."

* * *

"Common Jaune, I thought by now you'd be at least a bit better at dodging," Naruto mocked, standing over Jaune with a training sword in hand while his fellow blonde slowly pulled himself up off the ground, aura flickering around him and on the verge of breaking already.

"Yea but...you're crazy fast," was all Jaune managed to pant out before jumping back when Naruto took a swing at his head, just slow enough to give him an actual chance to react, "And you hit like a truck."

"Of course I do, I've trained since I was a kid to use a sword. You, on the other hand, have almost zero skill in that regard and thus are reduced to my punching bag until you learn to _get out of the way_. In other words, stop trying to block my sword with your face," Naruto was upon Jaune once more, coming down with an overhead strike that would surely knock out a full grown man without aura.

Jaune chose the smart option and got out of the way, if just barely, only to find his legs swiped out from under him and his back hitting the floor with a thud. His team leader stood over him again, the edge of the training sword leveled with his throat.

"Another thing you should remember," Naruto removed his sword and offered his hand instead, "Always mind your surroundings. A bad trip can kill you just as fast as you losing your head or being mauled to death by a Grimm."

Jaune took the offered hand and was hoisted to his feet, losing his balance and making Naruto steady him. Despite his body protesting his every little movement, muscles burning in new and horrible ways, Jaune felt like he was actually accomplishing something worthwhile for the first time in his entire life. Even if he hadn't improved that much, it was still just a bit better than before.

_SMACK!_

"Ah, what the hell?" Jaune moaned, holding his head as his aura finally shattered and Naruto stood there with the smuggest grin any bastard could have.

"You get distracted too easily. A habit I plan on literally beating out of you."

"I know you said this would be tough, but I'm starting to think you like beating me up," Jaune said, cradling his head as Naruto just turned around and started walking away, flashing his teammate a grin.

"Well, you know what they say, pain is weakness leaving the body."

"If that was true then I'd be almost as strong as you now."

"Ha!" Naruto let out a bark of a laugh, throwing his head back, "You've got a long way to go before that happens, but don't worry, I'll be as gentle with you as my teacher was with me. By the way, you may want to invest in some pain medication for the next four years."

Jaune winced at the very thought, "You're evil, I hope you know this."

"Who's evil?" came the voice of Blake as the rest of the team walked into the training room, each of them decked out in their combat gear.

"Yea, Jaune, who's evil?" Jaune nearly jumped out of his own skin when he heard Naruto's voice from right behind him, turning to see a pair of crimson eyes with an ominous glint in them.

"N-No one! Absolutely no one is evil!"

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that, Mr. Arc," standing _behind_ everyone else was none other than Headmaster Ozpin with his cane in hand and a subtle smile on his face, "But perhaps evil just applies to a certain point of view?"

"Headmaster Ozpin?" Pyrrha asked, confusion clear in her voice, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to speak with Mr, Uzumaki, Ms. Nikos," turning his gaze from the redhead to Naruto, Ozpin's smile widened just a bit, "That is, if you wouldn't mind giving me a few moments of your time? I understand that it is technically after hours and this is your free time."

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders and went to grab his jacket, "Sure, I've got a moment to spare. Pyrrha, you're in charge until I get back. Yang and Blake, you two keep working on that combo move. Jaune, keep going through those basic stances for now."

"Of Course," Pyrrha smiled and nodded her head.

"You got it/Don't miss me too much!" came Yang and Blake.

"Again?" Jaune didn't look near as enthused as the others but went about his task regardless; he did ask for this after all.

* * *

Ozpin's office hadn't changed in the slightest since the last time Naruto found himself there, sitting across from the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, and the only difference was that this time no one was threatening to expel him..._yet._ As it stood, Ozpin had been courteous enough to pour Naruto a glass of hot chocolate and the two of them sat there in relative silence until both their cups were empty. Say what you want about the strange older man, but he made a mean cup of hot cocoa.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about, headmaster?" Naruto asked.

"Right to the point then, very well," Ozpin inputted a few keys into his computer and an image popped up, more specifically an image of himself and his mother talking on the roof of his dorms, no doubt captured by one of the many security cameras that line the school, "I'm here to talk about your future at my school, Mr. _Branwen_."

The easy going nature in Naruto's eyes, which at one point reminded Ozpin a bit of Taiyang, vanished almost instantly and the headmaster instead felt like he was being glared at by Raven Branwen herself. Naruto's body grew tense, in a more than obvious way, and it was only because he hadn't been attacked first that he wasn't leaping over the desk to try and strangle Ozpin.

"Is this the part where you blackmail me to do what you want?" Naruto didn't trust Ozpin, never had, and he trusted the old man's motives even less.

"I see your mother has been talking about me and I assume you've been sent to the school for the same reason she and her brother were," Oz watched Naruto's expression grow even colder, the way his crimson eyes narrowed into the patented Branwen glare was rather nostalgic.

'Wait a moment, that's why he thinks I'm here?" Naruto thought, mentally sighing in relief before an idea popped into his head, "I've got news for you, headmaster, I ran away from the tribe about a year ago and haven't even seen my mother until just recently. As far as I was aware, she had no idea where I was or what I was doing."

"So you've no desire to return to the Branwen tribe?"

"No," Naruto lied.

"And you've only come here to learn how to be a huntsman and fight against the Grimm?"

"For now, yes," Naruto lied again.

The two stared at one another for what felt like hours, another battle of wills playing out between them, and it ended with Ozpin's face softened into a smile. He was definitely up to something.

"Then tell me, Mr. Uzumaki, what's your favorite fairy tale?"

Ozpin might not know for sure if Naruto was another one of Salem's agents, but he'd turned people against her before and was more than capable of doing it again. Besides, Qrow's getting on in years and he'd need another spy soon enough. Now he just needed to find what Naruto wanted most.

Naruto just blinked in complete and utter confusion.

"...What?"

* * *

**And then there was this disaster of a chapter. Over a month of doing rewrites, going back and forth of different ideas,and setting a notebook on fire. I feel like this chapter is more of a mess than the sexual tension between Naruto and Yang in the earlier chapters!**


End file.
